Photo by Drew Young
Construction for the second phase of Lane Parke started in 2018 with the demolition of the old Mountain Brook Shopping Center.
The Lane Parke development in Mountain Brook Village opened its first phase in 2016.
Developer John Evans of Evson Inc. said a number of tenants moved into open spaces in 2018, including MidiCi, Tulipano and Annabelle’s. As of mid-November, they were working on backfilling the space previously occupied by Local Taco.
The old Mountain Brook Shopping Center was also vacated in July and demolished in September.
In the remainder of 2018, Evans said construction crews worked on placing all underground utilities for the second phase. Construction, he said, is scheduled to start in early January and will include building new facilities and extending Rele Street.
Throughout 2019, Evans said, “there will be a lot of dirt work going on,” as crews bring in fill dirt to raise the second phase building pads by about two to three feet. The building work that is scheduled will be “vertical” Evans said.
There will be 18 spaces, including the new Regions Bank, in the second phase of Lane Parke, ranging in size from 1,400 to 8,000 square feet, he said, and they are hoping to fill the storefronts with one restaurant and a mix of boutique retail. As of mid-November, Evans said they are in discussions with a variety of stores, but no official leases have been signed.
The spaces for the second phase of Lane Parke are also being built-out for their tenants, deviating from how the first phase was originally done. This will allow shop owners to come in to a “warm box,” Evans said, that they can alter to fit their store.
“If you leased a space in the second phase, other than painting and whatever floor type you want, the space will be ready to go,” Evans said, adding some spaces may need other amenities, like fitting rooms. “That’s why the original plan is to turn it over in August and give tenants 60 days to do build-outs.”
After the storefronts are turned over to the shop owners, Evans said he hopes the grand opening will take place in October, although it is too early to set an exact date. The existing open spaces in the first phase have also been renovated to be ready to go for interested tenants.
In addition to construction of the facilities, Evans said they will be working on the intersection of Culver Road, Cahaba Road and the exit ramp that connects to U.S. 280. Crews will be working on straightening it out so cars are aligned with the proper sides of the road across the intersection.
This will push the road closer to Ray & Poynor, but Evans said additional parking spaces will be built on the north side of the building. Evans has also agreed to reface Treadwell’s salon.
Although the city has said they plan to repave the streets of Mountain Brook Village, Evans said they agreed to wait on Culver Road until the intersection of Culver/Cahaba/U.S. 280 has been shifted.
“Because we’re going to be cutting into asphalt, we’re going to be pushing curbs back, there’s no reason for good money to be butchered up,” Evans said. “So they’ve agreed to hold off on Culver Road.”
Evans said this will likely be one of the last pieces of the project to be completed. Aside from large construction deliveries, he does not expect any major impacts to traffic in the Mountain Brook Village area.
This story is part of our Year in Preview. See more here.
