Bringing in The Bray: Major project approved for Liberty Park

The Vestavia Hills City Council on March 14 approved a major commercial development and more than 600 new single-family homes for Liberty Park.

The Bray project will bring The Bray Town Center, a 102,000-square-foot commercial development that will include a hotel, restaurants, specialty retail and general business, and possibly a medical office.

John Bonanno, vice president of Liberty Park Daniel Communities, which is developing the project on behalf of Liberty Park Joint Venture, said residents can expect a “mix of users,” with the stated goal of keeping Liberty Park residents from having to leave the area to find what they need. Bonanno said the development should be similar to Lane Park and English Village in Mountain Brook.

The nearly 700 acres that will be developed includes land south of Liberty Parkway down to Sicard Hollow Road, with one side almost reaching the Cahaba River and the other backing up to The Cotswolds neighborhood, Bonanno said.

Developers scaled the original plans for a regional mall and residential neighborhoods to a village-style development, he said.

The development is projected to lead to more than $300 million in tax revenues over 25 years, according to an economic impact study done by Red Mountain Consultants. Of that amount, Daniel President John Gunderson said about $236 million will stay in the city, and of that amount, about $121 million will directly support Vestavia Hills City Schools.

Some Vestavia Hills residents have expressed concern about the impact on the school system, asking questions at public meetings and commenting on social media.

“It’s a great plan, but it’s not right for the schools,” one resident said at a meeting in late 2020.

Another resident informed Gunderson at that same meeting of a poll conducted by a homeowners association that had zero residents express approval and 196 oppose the project. Four residents requested more information, she said.

Christy Savage, a Liberty Park resident, said at a public meeting earlier this year that she feared Liberty Park was turning into Hoover.

“What I see every morning before I exit my community is a bar (On Tap Sports Cafe) right across the street, and that’s concerning to me,” Savage said. “I don’t mind growth, but I ask the question, ‘Why did we choose to live in that area?’ I didn’t choose to live in that area to have that huge development in my backyard. My concern is that the way we’re heading is like what other municipalities have fallen victim to, like Hoover and their strip malls.”

Christy Savage’s husband, Lauren, said at the same meeting that the city’s priority is the apartments because of their profitability.

“This is really about apartments, and no one wants to say that,” Lauren said. “The first thing we’re going to get is a bunch of apartments. It’s going to make Daniel a bunch of money. It’s not going to help my kids, and it’s not going to help their schools … I think we need to be straight up.”

Liberty Park Joint Venture was already entitled to build all of their proposed multifamily developments. The previous entitlements allowed them to build up to 890 multi-family units, which include apartments, townhomes and more. The new entitlements decrease that number to 870 units, with 556 of those units still to be developed. Of those units, no more than 270 would be luxury apartments, with the rest being age restricted residences for sale for active adults.

The apartments allow people to move from a single-family home in Liberty Park to the apartment or to senior living, Bonanno said. The goal is to allow Liberty Park to be “multigenerational” in its residential offerings.

By approving the new annexation agreement, the council authorized 664 additional single-family homes to be built, increasing LPJV’s entitlements from 2,336 single-family homes to 3,000 homes. Bonanno said, as of mid-March, 1,674 homes had already been developed, meaning a total of 1,326 single-family homes are still to be added to Liberty Park. Adding single-family and multi-family homes together, there will be 1,882 new homes added to Liberty Park as part of the project.

The development is estimated to add about 1,000 students for Vestavia Hills City Schools, or about 77 students per grade level, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.

Freeman said at a Jan. 31 board meeting that, taking current capacity into account and projected growth, there will be a need to build a new elementary school to come online for the 2028-29 school year. Liberty Park Middle School would also add a little more than 100 students in those projections, and would likely need to be expanded ahead of the 2035-36 school year, Freeman said. There is space to expand the LPMS campus without a need to build a new middle school, he said.

However, there is enough capacity at the freshman campus and at Vestavia Hills High School to not need more space, Freeman said. Right now, the freshman campus has 557 students with a capacity of 1,200, while the high school has 1,512 students and a capacity of 2,100, Freeman said. While there is projected to be about 220 students added to the high school with The Bray, that still leaves enough capacity without needing a new high school, he said.

“With The Bray, there is no intention or need for a new high school,” Freeman said.

Liberty Park Joint Venture will donate 15 acres to the city to be used for a future school site, according to the development agreement approved by the council.

The agreement also enables the dedication of existing and future roadways and new public spaces to the city, which will be built by LPJV, and also lays out the economic incentive agreement between LPJV and the city.

The revenue-sharing agreement stipulates the city will provide a total of up to $23 million in incentives for the development, including a $12 million rebate of city taxes and fees over 20 years and up to $11 million to cover infrastructure costs.

The $12 million tax rebate would not include property taxes but would be funded by new money from building permit fees and a percentage of other tax revenues. If the development does not progress or perform as planned, the city does not pay, according to the agreement.

Liberty Park Joint Venture will also build new infrastructure, including sidewalks and sanitary sewer lines, as well as extending South Liberty Parkway to Sicard Hollow Road.

The city will reimburse the developer for that infrastructure work, up to $11 million, if certain benchmarks are met and after the work is done. That payment would be given in two $5.5 million installments.

The first payment will come after the construction of a public park and green spaces in the town center, along with sanitary sewer and road improvements. The exterior shell of the hotel will have to be built, and 25,000 square feet of retail will have to be ready for tenant improvements before the city pays the first installment. The money will be sent to LPJV in two to three years, and $2.5 million will come from existing road reserves upon the dedication of currently private roads to the city, as well as money the city is hoping will come from other government entities. City Communications Director Cinnamon McCulley said the city is “seeking assistance from any governmental entity that has an opportunity to partner with us,” whether it be counties or other municipalities.

The second $5.5 million installment will come after the extension of an arterial road to the intersection of Sicard Hollow Road and South Liberty Parkway, along with the completion of roads in Liberty Park and a trail system. The money will be paid back over five to 10 years and will come from anticipated revenues from development, along with “short- and long-term income streams” through taxes and fees, McCulley said. The hotel will have to be open for business or 25,000 square feet of retail would have to be open in order for the money to be paid back, said the city’s special counsel, Whit Colvin.

Bonanno said the plan is to begin as soon as possible, breaking ground this spring or early summer, with land work done within 12 months and vertical components being built shortly thereafter. Daniel is communicating with residents via the homeowners association and will continue to do so as the project moves forward, he said.