An aerial view of the Belk and J.C. Penney stores at Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Hoover city leaders and business officials are exploring major redevelopment possibilities for the Riverchase Galleria — including multifamily residential, entertainment, retail and hospitality uses — as part of a $200,000 study.
The study, funded in partnership with four private entities connected to the Galleria campus, comes amid growing uncertainty about the mall’s future. The 147,000-square-foot former Sears store has been without a permanent tenant since 2019, and last summer, Macy’s put its 226,000-square-foot Galleria store up for sale.
The Galleria, which opened in 1986 as Alabama’s largest indoor mall with 1.2 million square feet of retail space, generates hundreds of millions in sales annually. But a shifting retail landscape has led some to question whether it could follow the fate of Brookwood Village and Century Plaza.
Several Hoover business leaders say there are multiple options.
“Outside of the beach, there’s not a better piece of real estate in the state of Alabama,” said Alan Paquette, vice president of property management for Jim Wilson & Associates, which manages The Offices at 3000 Riverchase, an office tower adjacent to the shopping mall. “It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when something big is happening here. What it will be has yet to be determined, but I think you’re going to see some outside-of-the-box uses.”
Paquette envisions something like the Avalon development in Alpharetta, Georgia, which has 570,000 square feet of retail space, dining options, a 330-room hotel, a 44,000-square-foot convention center, 750,000 square feet of Class A office space, and 637 residences that include loft apartments and single-family homes.
“It’s a phenomenal, phenomenal development,” Paquette said.
Photo by Jon Anderson
A sign welcomes people to the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama.
Mike Wood, who has served on Hoover’s Planning and Zoning Commission for more than 25 years — at least 15 as chairman — said he, too, could foresee some type of live-work development on the Galleria campus.
“It’s obvious something’s going to be done with it,” Wood said. “It’s too good of land for it not to be developed into something as spectacular as the Galleria was in its day. I just think it’s time for a new redevelopment plan.”
He could imagine retail on the ground with some type of housing above it, but Hoover school officials would need to be consulted to determine how housing in that location would impact the school system, he said.
Paul Dangel, sales and marketing director at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel and a former chairman of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said there are very few places in the Southeast where two interstate exits are already built with a significant amount of flat land available.
“I think there’s opportunity there to do some amazing things,” Dangel said. “What those amazing things are, I don’t have preconceived notions on.”
But the Galleria property, to some extent, could use some revamping, he said. “Everything at some point needs to be revitalized and brought up to whatever the current standard is.”
Paquette, who also is vice president of the Hoover Board of Education, said he thinks partial residential use makes sense because, currently, young families are being priced out of the Hoover market. Empty nesters in Hoover are not downsizing because they don’t want to give up their 3% mortgage interest rates, leaving young families with fewer homes to purchase, he said.
He doesn’t think apartments are the answer, but something for young families is needed, he said. “That’s got to be where we go with it.”
Wood said housing for people 55 and older might be a better fit because it would have less of an impact on schools.
Paquette also doesn’t think the Galleria redevelopment will look anything like the concept in the city’s comprehensive plan. That plan was put together and approved in July 2019 before Sears closed and before Macy’s was put up for sale, and with changes in the retail industry, “you don’t need the amount of retail square footage that exists on the property,” Paquette said. “I think you’re going to see drastic changes.”
Redevelopment likely will start with the Sears and Macy’s properties and move toward the center of the campus, he said.
The Macy's and Sears side of the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama on Mar. 14, 2025. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
As for entertainment options, several commenters on social media have expressed a desire for something like an aquarium. Paquette and Wood said that’s certainly an option, but they also see a performing arts center or civic center as having potential. The accessibility of the property and available parking make it attractive as a gathering spot, they said.
The Hunden Partners consulting firm also is considering additional hotel usage.
The Hyatt Regency has 329 rooms and six luxury suites, and in addition to other existing hotels in the area, there are four new hotels with more than 410 rooms that have either just opened or are under construction between the Galleria and Hoover Metropolitan Complex, Dangel said.
One of those — a Home2 Suites by Hilton — is on the Galleria campus by Home Depot.
“With anything, you get to the point where there can be oversaturation,” Dangel said.
He certainly doesn’t like the idea of competition for his hotel, but he does want the Galleria to be a Southeastern destination, he said. And some other destination areas of similar size as the Galleria campus have more than two hotels, he said.
These questions are the reason the consultant was hired, he said.
“I think we’re open to whatever it might be,” Dangel said.
The Hunden Partners firm anticipates it will take at least until the end of June to complete its work.
