Image courtesy of Evson, Inc.
0312 Lane Parke 02
View of the proposed retail at the northeast intersection, Lane Park Road and Jemison Lane.
As Lane Parke’s development proceeds on schedule, developers are considering delaying part of the construction if lease negotiations with a few existing tenants do not come through.
“Even though some of the construction may be delayed somewhat, we want people to know that the project is definitely moving forward and will happen,” Evson principal John Evans said.
Retail Specialists Inc. and Daniel Corporation have secured lease agreements that would fill approximately 70 percent of retail space made available after the first phase of construction, according to Doug Neil, vice president of development for Daniel Corporation.
Evson principal John Evans anticipates construction will begin this fall on all 20 acres formerly home to Park Lane apartments.
Rite Aid is currently participating in lease negotiations, Evans said. With its existing lease, this tenant has the option to remain in its existing space until 2019 if it does not wish to sign a lease for the new development.
If this is the case, Evans said Phase I construction would continue as planned, but part of the retail development would be delayed as part of the existing shopping center remains standing.
Still, the area surrounding the part of the existing shopping center would be enhanced with landscaping and updated to ensure it fits into the style of the new development, Evans said.
Western Supermarket President Darwin Metcalf confirmed that Western is in the final steps of lease negotiations with Daniel Corporation and is close to “striking a deal.”
“We have agreed on all the main terms and are just working on hammering out small details,” Metcalf said. “We are anxious to get a lease signed and excited about being in the new center.”
Western’s current lease ends in 2018.
As final negotiations are in the works for tenants, Mountain Brook City Council is also considering revisions to Lane Parke that would scale back part of the commercial development.
Revisions to the plan eliminate the parking structure and some office space provided for in the initial Planned Unit Development (PUD). In conjunction with these revisions, developers are bringing the plan out of its conceptual stage by inserting more concrete detail.
“We want to have a project consistent with village scale,” Neil said.
PUD revisions add parking spaces near the inn to ensure it has all the parking needed with the elimination of the parking structure.
Neil anticipates the revised PUD will go before the Council for a vote in late August.
To see the full revised PUD, visit mtnbrook.org.
