Ground breaks for Lane Parke retail space
A new selection of retailers and restaurants are officially set to open a year from now at Lane Parke. A ground breaking for the first phase of retail development was held on Sept. 10.
“I was a young man with this project started,” Rele Evans of Evson Inc. said at the event. His father originally developed Park Lane Apartments and the Mountain Brook Shopping Center in 1947, when Rele was an engineering student at Tulane University.
“This project is a tribute to [my father] for starting this 70 years ago, and we consider it a legacy from my father to Mountain Brook, the place that he so enjoyed,” he said.
Twenty years ago Rele and his son John Evans became owners of the property and soon realized it was time to redevelop it.
“Today we can see the project is going forward to the end,” Rele said. “It is very gratifying to us.”
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood served as architects on the retail phase, financing was provided by IBERIABANK, and HOAR will compete the construction. John Evans also recognized the work of Daniel Corporation, Maynard Cooper and Gale and Retail Specialists on the project.
“We started off with a lot of associates, but now I can honestly say we have a group of friends,” John said.
The names of some of the new restaurants and retailers coming to the retail phase were released in May:
- CharBar No. 7, a steakhouse out of North Carolina
- Kinnucan’s Specialty Outfitters, an active lifestyle retailer with stores in Tuscaloosa, Auburn and other Southeastern cities
- The Local Taco, a Tex-Mex-Southern food hybrid with locations in South Carolina, and Nashville
- Revelator Coffee Company, which has a location downtown on 3rd Avenue North
- YEAH! Burger, an Atlanta-based fast casual restaurant that uses natural and organic ingredients, as well as gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options.
Retailers opening new versions of existing Mountain Brook stores in the retail phase are A’Mano, M&S Interiors and Western Supermarket.
Once Phase I is complete, Western will move to its new space, and the existing Mountain Brook Shopping Center will be torn down up to the existing Rite Aid, which will remain until its lease ends in 2019 unless it is terminated earlier. Regions Bank will also relocate to a new building in Parke Lane.
Robert Jolly of Retail Specialists said after a brief break they will dive into recruiting retailers for Phase II of the development.
City Council President Virginia Smith recognized the importance of Lane Parke at the ground breaking.
“It is a game changer for Mountain Brook,” she said. “It will be a world class place, and we can’t wait for it to be finished.”