New development coming on lower 31

After years of changing hands and sitting empty, the large lot on the southern end of U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills is set to be turned into a large commercial development.

The former Motor Lodge property is now owned by Ward Neely, who is working with local developer John Michael Bodnar and the city to turn the property into a home for multiple tenants, which will include retail, restaurant and service industries, said Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes.

The development is welcome news to the city, which has dealt with the property being vacant, save for food trucks and pop-up businesses, since the demolition of the Motor Lodge in 2014. Neely took ownership of two parcels in recent years, with Waffle House owning another parcel. Waffle House had plans to build a second location in the city, less than a mile from its existing location on Columbiana Road, but those plans fell through during the COVID-19 pandemic. The eatery chose to expand its Columbiana Road location instead of building a second location. While Waffle House’s lot could be purchased as part of the sale, whether that will happen is not known at this time, Downes said.

Neely said he was introduced to Bodnar through a mutual friend and found the pair shared a vision for a development that wasn’t a “cookie-cutter, square” building. Bodnar is part of the team behind Martin’s BBQ, Waldo’s Chicken and other restaurants in the Cahaba Heights area.

“Some new life would go a long way,” Neely said. “It takes a very conscious and well-thought-out design to make that work.”

While specific tenants are not yet known, Neely said he envisions three to five businesses in the roughly 12,000-square-foot property. He also wants to create green space and possibly a shared courtyard for restaurants. The space might also include micro-suites, which are sub-1,000-square-foot buildings, helpful for those venturing into brick-and-mortar business who want a smaller space as they get started, Neely said.

“To me, it’s kind of a gateway to that little area,” Neely said.

There used to be an “unwritten rule” that developers would not bring possible tenants or owners to Vestavia through I-65 because of the nature of the southern end of the city, Neely said. Instead, they would enter at the north end of the highway, next to Homewood city limits, he said.

“The area has a lot to provide,” Neely said.

Neely said he’s hopeful the new development will bring about additional investment.

Neely said the team is still in the preliminary design phase and doing pre-development work. Downes said the development will also embrace the creek behind the property.

Neely said while tax or job numbers are not available yet, he would “be surprised if we put anything in here that’s already in the market.”

While nothing is certain yet, Bodnar said places that are looking are Big Bad Breakfast and Waldo’s Chicken, along with Vui’s Kitchen, a Vietnamese restaurant that hails from Nashville.

The area formerly occupied by the Motor Lodge has been problematic for the city for years. Downes said southern U.S. 31 has often been labeled a “tweener” location, as it was just somewhere drivers passed through on the way to somewhere else. While the city does not control private business, Downes said they do have to create the environment for the type of business they want.

“It’s a matter of proving that it can be successful,” Downes said.

The city has to “create momentum,” Downes said. That has happened, he said, with the introduction of new businesses from the City Center down to the southern end of the city. Businesses like Taco Mama, the forthcoming Davenport’s Pizza, Crumbl Cookies, Chopt Creative Salad Company and Taziki’s, across from Mark’s Outdoors, have brought new revenues and new businesses to the city.

Selling to businesses at the site will be easier because of the success of the City Center up the road, Downes said.

Neely said the cost of the project is anticipated to be between $6.5 to $7 million, but that price could change. The timeline for when the project will be complete is undetermined at this time.