Photo by Jon Anderson.
More than $120 million was poured into renovations of the Riverchase Galleria campus in 2012 and 2013, helping bring new vibrancy to the state’s largest enclosed mall.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night agreed to partner with four private entities to pay $200,000 for a feasibility study for the redevelopment of “central Hoover” with a focus on the Riverchase Galleria campus.
The city is hiring a company called Hunden Partners out of Chicago to conduct the study, which will review potential redevelopment opportunities that include multi-family residential, entertainment, hospitality and retail uses.
“The study will explore the market opportunity to transform the Galleria campus into a vibrant and walkable city center for Hoover,” the agreement between the city and Hunden Partners says. “The Galleria campus, like many retail-focused developments, has faced tenant and customer losses, exacerbated by the pandemic. The client would like to reimagine the Galleria campus as a modern “live, work, play” environment that enhances the overall character and quality of life in Hoover and stimulates economic growth.”
The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission in July 2019 approved a comprehensive plan for the city that included conceptual recommendations for dramatic changes to the Riverchase Galleria campus.
That plan called for redeveloping the Galleria campus as a “city center” with a new “main street” look around the mall, with multi-story buildings right up against both sides of the road, as you might see in a traditional urban downtown.
Map courtesy of city of Hoover
Galleria redevelopment concept July 2019
This was the conceptual redevelopment plan for the Riverchase Galleria campus approved as part of the city's comprehensive plan in the summer of 2019.
However, those proposals were only conceptual in nature, and there has to be buy-in by the people who own the property, Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said.
The Riverchase Galleria campus, often considered everything in between Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway, and U.S. 31 and Galleria Boulevard has multiple property owners.
“It’s kind of hard to get everybody on board,” the mayor said. “You’ve got to have the people that own it buy into the project and be willing to put money into it, to accept the vision that comes out of the study. I think if we can get all those parties on board, the city’s ready to move forward and do some things to bring it to that next step.”
A lot of things have happened since the comprehensive plan was approved. Sears closed its department store at the Galleria in October 2019, and then the pandemic hit in 2020, which closed the mall completely for a while and led to limited hours after the reopening.
Hours and activity at the mall has strengthened since then, but brick-and-mortar retailers nationwide have been facing challenges, and Macy’s has put its Galleria property up for sale as well.
“We want to address the long-term viability of the Galleria, although it’s doing very well,” Brocato said. “There are so many events going on in Hoover that people are shopping there, but what does it look like five, 10, 15 years from now?”
The Hoover City Council committed up to $168,725 for the study by Hunden Partners, and other partners are putting up $31,275. Those partners include Brookfield Properties (the majority owner of the Galleria campus), the Riverchase Business Association, Jim Wilson & Associates (which owns The Offices at 3000 Riverchase officer tower next to the mall) and the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel, said Greg Knighton, the city’s economic development manager.
Brocato said he thinks it’s a positive sign to have these partners involved in the study.
Hunden Partners will study the current business market for the site and surrounding properties, identify ideal users and types of tenants for the Galleria campus, conduct financial feasibility studies, identify redevelopment opportunities and propose a phased development plan to create a vibrant mixed-use urban center.
This will include an analysis of the multi-family residential market in central Hoover (apartments, condominiums and townhomes) as well as the current demand for hotels in the area.
In addition to the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel being on the Galleria campus, a Home 2 Suites by Hilton is having a ribbon cutting on the Galleria campus next to Home Depot next week. Three more new hotels are under construction further west along John Hawkins Parkway.
Hunden Partners anticipates it will take 16 weeks to complete its study and present final findings and recommendations to city officials.
In other business Monday night, the Hoover City Council:
- Agreed to pay Standard Roofing $1,015,000 for the final two phases of roof replacement for the Hoover Public Library.
- Agreed to pay J.D. Morris Construction Co. $422,467 for a half-mile sidewalk in the Russet Woods community on Top O’ Tree Lane from Guyton Road to Russet Woods Drive and along Guyton Road from Top O’Tree Lane to Russet Woods Drive. This will connect with an existing sidewalk along Russet Woods Drive, creating a loop. Construction should begin in April and take 90 days to complete, City Engineer Chris Reeves said.
- Agreed to give $100,000 to the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce’s Elevate Hoover campaign.
- Agreed to donate about 6.6 acres of land along Valleydale Road at Veterans Park to the Alabama Department of Transportation for the widening of Valleydale Road. Plans for the road widening have been in the works since 1998, and of 94 tracts of land needed, all but two have been acquired, Reeves said. Once the final two tracts are acquired, utility relocation should take at least two years, he said.
- Agreed to pay $4,000 to cover expenses to send Hoover police Capt. Chuck McDonald to the FBI National Academy.
- Approved a license for Beef O’Brady’s to sell alcoholic beverages at an outdoor St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the parking lot of its restaurant in The Grove shopping center on Saturday, March 15.
