3/29/2002 - Brigham-Williams plans retail shops to serve Highway 150
Birmingham Business Journal - March 29, 2002 by Don Milazzo Staff
The new Bruno's on Alabama Highway 150 was built without additional space for small retailers, so Brigham-Williams Commercial saw an opportunity.
Knowing that Bruno's was coming, Brigham-Williams in early 2001 began formulating plans for an adjacent retail center that would draw upon Bruno's shoppers and from the bustling Hoover neighborhoods along Highway 150.
Construction began last month on the $3.25 million, 25,500-square-foot center dubbed South Shades Crest Station which already is 70 percent leased to tenants such as Blockbuster Video, All American Paging & Cellular and Sanpeggio's Pizza. It is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Highway 150 and South Shades Crest Road.
"Since we're still at the point where we're bringing in dirt, we're really happy" about the pre-leasing thus far, says Brigham-Williams associate broker Sid Aultman. "We did our center because we knew the Bruno's site was too small to have shops around it."
Other committed tenants are China Walk, Nails & Tailor, women's fitness center Curves, Great Clips and a dry cleaners. Six bays remain, totaling 7,600 square feet.
Opening is set for September of this year, Aultman says. Bradford Building Co. is the general contractor; Randy Britton is the architect. First Commercial Bank is financing the development.
David Kahn, president & CEO of Birmingham Blockbuster Video franchisee DMK Entertainment Inc., says he decided to open in the center despite three other Blockbuster locations in Hoover.
"The Bruno's certainly was an enticement," Kahn says. "It's just a great area. And I think there's still potential for more development along 150."
Growing neighborhoods
C.S. Beatty Construction is in the midst of site work on the project. Interestingly, the contractor is bringing in 100,000 cubic yards of dirt from a site near the Riverchase Galleria, where C.S. Beatty is clearing land for a development that will host two restaurants: Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar and Up The Creek.
"That saved both groups money and helped make the project work," Aultman says.
The center will be divided into two buildings, which will sit on each side of a new access road being built as part of the development. The new road also will provide access to 17 acres of undeveloped property.
Aultman says his retail center will open to a captive market that includes the affluent Deer Valley, Russet Woods and Lake Cyrus residential subdivisions.
"In a five-mile ring from that intersection, there are a little over 60,000 people, with an annual household income of about $92,000," he says. "So the buying power there is very strong. As big as that community is, no one was servicing it without having to drive toward the Galleria."
Virginia Williams, director of development for the city of Hoover, agrees with Aultman's assessment of the demand along Highway 150.
"There are so many growing neighborhoods out there," she says. "They need closer services."
Commenting on Brigham-Williams, RGS Properties owner Dick Schmalz says the company is doing an admirable job hand-ling marketing and leasing for an RGS development in McCalla called The Shoppes at Letson Farms. Food World opened there this week, and ground recently was broken for 33,000 square feet of smaller retail space, which is approximately 50 percent pre-leased. Schmalz is developing that project with local businessmen Owen Vickers and Jeff Wise.
"They do a good job because they have several different leasing operations going on in different parts of the metro area," Schmalz says of Brigham-Williams. "This exposes them to a variety of tenants, and it widens the exposure for the center. That appeals to us."
Similar projects under way
In size and scope, the South Shades Crest project is not unlike a Brigham-Williams development set to open in May on U.S. Highway 280 in the Hoover city limits.
Construction is nearly complete on a roughly 30,000-square-foot, $5.5 million retail center near the Racetrac gas station and in front of the new Wal-Mart SuperCenter development. Committed tenants include Verizon Wireless, Subzone, Movie Gallery, MattressMax, Great Clips, Greystone Jewelry, Greystone Furnishings, Sanpeggio's Pizza and a dry cleaners.
Last year, Brigham-Williams opened similar centers in Bessemer and Leeds. It developed Morgan Road Station near the same-named exit off Interstate 459 in Bessemer. With nearly 20,000 square feet of space fully leased to Dollar General, RealtySouth, Domino's Pizza and other tenants, the center will be expanded this summer by 10,000 square feet, Aultman says.
And in early 2001, the company opened a nearly 20,000-square-foot center called Leeds Station that is home to Blockbuster Video, Dollar General, Papa John's Pizza and other retailers. It also includes an Arby's restaurant on an outparcel.
The company isn't slowing down. Aultman says Brigham-Williams also plans to develop small retail centers this year in Forestdale, Pinson and Oneonta, all of which will be anchored by Movie Gallery stores.
Contact managing editor Don Milazzo at (205) 443-5630 or dmilazzo@bizjournals.com.
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