Taking the final step at Lane Parke

After about 15 years of work and planning, the Lane Parke development in Mountain Brook Village is moving toward its long-awaited completion 

Construction began in March on Phase 2 of the development’s retail and commercial space.

“We’re thrilled to take the final step toward completing Lane Parke,” said developer John Evans of the family-owned Evson inc. as work began.

Phase 2, measuring 50,000 square feet, was delayed by about 14 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans told Village Living.

However, it should be finished by May 2022, and with it the entire 27-acre Lane Parke project, which also includes The Grand Bohemian luxury hotel and 276 apartments.

With Lane Parke’s completion, city officials and merchants see an opportunity for Mountain Brook Village to become a greater draw for visitors from around the Birmingham metro and beyond.

Officials foresee greater tax revenues for Mountain Brook, and merchants in the village hope Lane Parke can draw more traffic for their businesses.

Not only that, but in April, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill sponsored by Rep. David Faulkner allowing the city to create entertainment districts in Mountain Brook Village, English Village and Crestline Village.

The bill was sent to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature on April 8, according to LegiScan.com.

We spoke to Evans, city officials and several local merchants about the possible impact of the completion of Lane Parke and the coming of the entertainment districts.

And it seems that these events could work together to impact the city in a positive, even transformative, way.

“It’s a completely new atmosphere for the city of Mountain Brook,” said Mayor Stewart Welch III.

Getting underway

Hoar Construction is the contractor for Phase 2, Goodwyn Mills & Cawood are the architects and the financing is being provided by First Horizon Iberia Bank, Evans said.

The cost of Phase 2 is about $24 million, Evans said.

The developers are working to minimize the impact of construction on traffic and parking in Mountain Brook Village, said city building official Glen Merchant

“They are trying to plan for all of the delivery headaches with times of school and work traffic and not at lunch time,” he said.

“They plan to use their own overflow parking areas for the workers and have a good plan for the site material storage,” Merchant said.

The entire 27-acre Lane Parke project will have plenty of parking, Evans said.

The projected outcome regarding parking “is a best-guess, and may be variable depending on the exact mix of tenants upon completion,” said Dana Hazen, the city’s director of planning, building and sustainability.

However, the developers have ”partnered with reputable traffic and parking consultants who have utilized contemporary industry standards and models to project how well the traffic flow and parking will work upon completion,” Hazen said. “These professional consultants have a strong reputation for accuracy.”

Phase 2 tenants

Tenants announced for Phase 2 at press time include Ignite Cycle, a boutique cycling studio; Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, an award-winning artisan ice cream shop; and Basecoat on Fifth, a luxury nail studio.

Phase 2 will also include a new casual restaurant concept from Birmingham chef Abhishek Sainju.

Lane Parke will also add a Starbucks location with a drive-through, Evans said.

More tenants will be announced in the coming weeks, said Suzanna Wasserman, vice president of marketing for Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors. 

Instead of local brands, the Phase 2 tenant mix will likely include more national and other out-of-market brands “that people in and around Mountain Brook don’t normally get to see,” Evans said. 

Phase 1 of Lane Parke, completed in 2016 and measuring 70,000 square feet, was about a $20 million project, Evans said.

Phase 1 is fully leased, with the final tenant — a workout facility called X4 Fitness— expected to open in May or June.

Ready for completion

Mountain Brook Village merchants are anxious to see work begin on Phase 2, in part because the location has sat empty for the last few years after some demolition and site work.

“I know everybody is pretty tired of looking at the empty space just at the entrance into Mountain Brook off 280,” said Lynn Ritchie is the owner of A’Mano, a gift shop in Phase 1.

“It will be nice to have the village finished,” said Ricky Bromberg, president of Bromberg & Co.

The completion of Phase 2 will “connect Phase 1 with the entire village and make it much more walkable and connected, including the hotel,” Ritchie said. “All the hotel guests will be able to stroll the whole village.”

Evans expressed the hope that Lane Parke will boost all the merchants in Mountain Brook Village. “I want the rising tide to lift all boats,” he said.

“The more retailers, the more the area gets traffic,” said Wesley Lassen, owner of The Cook Store.

Lane Parke “adds more things for people to come to, and when you have more things you can accomplish in a shopping area, I think that enhances all of the businesses,” said Brenda Meadows, owner of The Lingerie Shoppe.

“Once we have that connectivity...I think it will connect the whole village and tie it all together,” said Alice Womack, a member of the Mountain Brook City Council.

Meadows said that The Grand Bohemian, which opened in 2015, has “already had a positive effect.”

“It’s been great for people traveling and coming to the village,” Lassen said.

Welch calls The Grand Bohemian “a blessing” for the city.

“You have an incredible, first-class hotel, and you’re proud to say when someone comes to visit, ‘Well, you have to stay at The Grand Bohemian,’” Welch said. “It is a big anchor for Lane Parke, and it will help feed a lot of business to Phase 1 and Phase 2. People will want to stay there because you can step right outside your door and have everything you’d ever want to do within a block.”

The completion of Lane Parke will make Mountain Brook “a big magnet for people who want to shop and eat, and not just residents, but I think we will attract a lot people from outside of Mountain Brook,” Welch said.

“I hope we have tenants that the market wants to visit, and so it will draw people outside of Mountain Brook,”  Evans said.

Tax revenue

The completion of Lane Parke should be a financial boon for the city.

“The property is going to be put to better commercial use, which will in turn create more sales tax dollars and business license revenue for the city so we continue to provide services,” said City Manager Sam Gaston.

In 2020, sales and lodging taxes, license fees and ad valorem taxes from Phase 1 accounted for 4% of the city’s total general fund revenue, said Steven Boone, the city’s finance director and assistant city manager.

In addition, the Board of Education received approximately $1.3 million more in ad valorem taxes in 2020 compared to their pre-development real estate tax collections, Boone said.

Entertainment districts

The approval of the new entertainment districts in Mountain Brook could be a big lift for all three villages.

“I think it definitely is a larger welcoming mat to invite people to come check out what is going on in these three villages and the cool businesses and restaurants that we have to offer,” said Will Haver, owner of Taco Mama in Crestline Village. 

“I think it can only add to that connectivity and that walkability around the villages,” Womack said.

“You can get a glass of wine and walk next door to the retail store and look at clothes,” Welch said, referring to the open carry of alcoholic beverages allowed in entertainment districts during certain hours

Evans hopes the entertainment districts will help local businesses in Mountain Brook.

“We’re hoping with the entertainment district, the shops won’t be closing down at 6 o’clock at night, that with the assorted restaurants, people will window shop and hopefully the shopkeepers stay open later so they can have some of that pedestrian traffic,” Evans said.

Before officially starting the districts, the city will need to take input from residents and business owners, Welch said.

The City Council will “need to go in and set the parameters that go with the districts  — hours, days and any other restrictions that we want to impose,” said Council President Virginia Smith.

‘A destination city’

The completion of Lane Parke Phase 2 and the approval of the entertainment districts “will create a whole new coming-out party” for Mountain Brook, Welch said.

People “will come visit, and when they come visit they will be excited,” he said, citing what he calls the unique charm of the villages.

In addition, two new traffic roundabouts to be constructed by about 2023 will aid the flow of traffic into Mountain Brook Village from Highway 280, Welch said.

“They will move traffic much more easily, and it will connect the zoo and the botanical gardens to the Grand Bohemian to Lane Parke to Mountain Brook Village,” he said. “You will have this incredible place that will feel real easy to get to.”

When all of these “pieces of the puzzle” come together, Welch said, “I think you will find that Mountain Brook is a destination city.”

“Mountain Brook Village has always been wonderful on its own; not necessarily in need of anything to complete it, but I do believe Lane Parke will enhance Mountain Brook Village and that the two components will work together as a vibrant shopping, dining, visiting and living location,” Hazen said.