‘Live, work and play environment’: The Bray at Liberty Park takes shape, developer sees strong demand for homes
Vestavia Hills’ master plan includes dozens of projects designed to improve the business community, visual identity and overall livability of the city, from a comprehensive sidewalk network to redevelopment of the former Days Inn site on U.S. 31.
However, the master plan’s most ambitious project, and the largest project in the history of the city, is The Bray at Liberty Park. When complete, this public-private partnership between the city and Daniel Corp. will be a massive mixed-use development billed as “a true live, work and play environment.”
The Bray is slated to include 1,800 residential units and a 100-acre town center with retail outlets, a hotel, restaurants, medical facilities, office spaces and green space — all on 700 acres within Liberty Park.
It’s the last large undeveloped area in Vestavia Hills.
Construction officially started on The Bray earlier this year following two years of administrative hurdles, and City Manager Jeff Downes said the market response to new homes has been exceptional.
The Bray residential
A quick drive through the area will reveal a flurry of activity as crews work to construct dozens of new single-family homes and townhomes on land directly behind The Church at Liberty Park.
“It has had very positive upmarket penetration,” Downes said.
John Bonanno, vice president of Liberty Park Daniel Communities, said the interest in new housing within The Bray is higher than anticipated, especially when factoring in the current economy’s effect on the real estate market. Harris Doyle Homes, one of The Bray’s builder partners, is constructing homes as quickly as possible to meet the demand, he said.
“We cannot build enough lots to stay ahead of them; that’s how fast houses are selling,” Bonanno said. “Despite the interest rates, the buyer at Liberty Park, so far, seems to be immune to it.”
Harris Doyle purchased 59 single-family lots and 46 townhome lots within the past year and, based on sales projections, the last of those homes will be move-in ready by May 2024, Bonanno said. Additionally, the developer is working to create an additional 114 lots that should be ready by the first quarter of 2024, he said.
“Liberty Park is still a place people want to live, so we are trying to figure out how to get more lots on the ground as fast as we can,” Bonanno said.
Commercial development
The Bray will include the largest commercial project in the history of Vestavia Hills: the headquarters of Medical Properties Trust, a real estate investment company that specializes in health care facilities. The company was founded in 2003 by Edward Aldag Jr. and owns more than 400 properties in the United States, South America and Europe.
Currently headquartered in downtown Birmingham, Medical Properties Trust reported revenue of $1.5 billion in 2021 and will be a feather in the cap of the new development.
“Medical Properties Trust is under construction. If you went out there right now, you would see cranes,” Downes said. “It will be the single largest, by value, commercial building ever built in Vestavia Hills. They are permitted, and they are under construction.”
Bonanno said the Medical Properties Trust headquarters, being built by Hoar Construction, is expected to be completed by December 2025 and has been designed to be ecologically responsible and have minimum impact on the environment.
“The MPT site is going to be one of the most ecological, environmentally friendly, sustainable buildings anywhere,” Bonanno said. “I’ve seen the plans. It’s going to be something to behold.”
The Town Center
The final portion of The Bray is the Town Center. Yet to break ground, the Town Center is a mixed-use community that will include retail, restricted senior living, multifamily housing and a hotel surrounding a public park known as The Grand Lawn. Downes said this portion of The Bray is similar to a development in the suburbs of Atlanta.
“This is something that would be akin to The Avalon in Alpharetta, where you have plenty of green space and a mixture of uses, to where there is activity in this park area in this Bray Village Center 24/7,” Downes said.
The time frame for starting construction on the Town Center is open-ended, Bonanno said.
“We just finished all the site work for the remaining Town Center, so we have all the parcels out there, and we are talking with prospective users to come out there and get the vertical activated,” he said “Do I have a timetable for that? With this economy, it’s hard to say.”
There has been some business development in The Bray already, including a Starbucks and a new dentist office. Bonanno said they are working diligently to make sure the mix of businesses, especially the restaurants and the hotel, reflects a unique vision.
Bonanno stressed that the Town Center portion of The Bray will not be a typical commercial development with chain restaurants and fast-food joints. Bonanno, who moved to the Birmingham area four years ago, pointed to Crestline in Mountain Brook and Second Avenue North in downtown Birmingham — communities with vibrant restaurant scenes — as a template for The Bray’s Town Center.
“We’re being very selective of the users because we want to curate this thing in a way that makes it special and different from other places,” Bonanno said. “I’d like to stay away from the franchisees. I want to get it to the point that when you come to The Bray, you’re going to find someplace really good to eat.”
From a design standpoint, the commercial portion of the Town Center at The Bray will reflect Birmingham’s history as a steel and industrial center. Bonanno pointed to Pepper Place and Mercantile on Morris in downtown Birmingham or Warehouse Row in Chattanooga as examples.
“We’re trying to tie it back to the industrial, historical look of Birmingham,” Bonanno explained. “We’d like to try to capture the Pepper Place look, not the Lane Parke look.”
Community response
While the Town Center is growing and there is great anticipation for the new housing and the completion of the Medical Properties Trust property, positive feedback has not been unanimous. Some residents have voiced concerns over issues such as possible environmental impact on the natural surroundings, overcrowding of the schools in Liberty Park and general overcrowding of the community at large.
However, Brad Clement, a 25-year resident of Liberty Park and a Realtor with ARC Realty Liberty Park, said he believes the new development will be a net positive for the community as well as the city at large. He said the new construction should help loosen up a tight real estate market while providing additional tax revenue for the school system and other city services.
“Not everybody’s excited about it, but I think it’s progress, and I’m very excited about the money it will help raise for Vestavia’s schools,” Clement said. “Not everybody’s going to be happy, but I think hopefully at the end of the day, we’re going to have a very, very nice addition to the neighborhood.
“Liberty Park is a large tax base for the city of Vestavia Hills, and without Liberty Park, the city wouldn’t be able to do a lot of services that it provides,” Clement said. “From that standpoint, I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Clement added that Vestavia Hills is an attractive community with many potential homebuyers unable to find a home due to low inventory, a result of a tightening of the real estate market. With 30-year fixed mortgage rates close to 8.5%, Clement said current homeowners who lack a compelling reason to sell and purchase another home are staying put.
At the time of this writing, Clement said his office had only two listings within Liberty Park. The construction of hundreds of new homes will, hopefully, loosen the local real estate market while opening the community up to new residents, he said.
“It’s a great community, and people want to move here,” Clement said, “but there’s really not enough turnover for everybody who wants to move into the neighborhood. … People have to have someplace to move if they’re going to sell, so having new construction is an option that really helps Liberty Park.”
Impact on schools
Regarding The Bray’s impact on Liberty Park’s two schools — Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and Liberty Park Middle School — Superintendent Todd Freeman said the school system is prepared strategically for growth in students within Liberty Park as well as other communities. He said the annual capital planning process is determined by three drivers: student enrollment, existing facility needs and educational programs.
“Over the course of the last year, we discussed our facility needs as part of the 1Rebel 1Future vision,” Freeman said. “Systemwide improvements such as security, accessibility and healthiness of our facilities, along with other school-specific projects, are needs defined in our capital projects plan.”
Additionally, Freeman said that The Bray includes land designated for future needs and that the system is constantly studying data in every neighborhood and will be able to address any needs long before any school within Vestavia Hill becomes overcrowded.
“We are completing an updated demographic study that will guide us in predicting student enrollment trends over the next 10 years,” he added. “The residential growth as a result of The Bray is naturally a part of that process. We are also evaluating the potential financial impact for the school system as a result of the development.
“During the course of this school year, we will use that information to prioritize our future years’ capital needs and the timing of when they can be completed,” Freeman said. “We will continue to keep the community informed of those plans.”
Vestavia Hills Councilwoman Kimberly Cook said rumors persist that a new high school will be necessary to accommodate increased students, but that’s just not the case.
“First, it is not a city decision, but a school decision,” Cook said. “Second, the schools have plainly stated there will be no need for a second high school, and there are no plans for a second high school. This was offered before The Bray decision, and The Bray development is not expected to change this assessment.”
Cook said she recently met with some members of the school board to gather information on financial plans for a second elementary school in Liberty Park. She pointed to the board’s new fiscal year budget for 2024, which includes updates to studies on the community’s school-age population growth and potential tax revenue.
“This study will be of great benefit to the system, and I am glad they are doing it,” Cook said. “This shows wise planning by our Board of Education.”
Learn more about The Bray at libertypark.com/the-bray.