Vestavia Hills to vote on purchase of Days Inn hotel

The Vestavia Hills City Council will meet Monday night to discuss approving the purchase of the Days Inn hotel at 1485 Montgomery Highway, in order to demolish it and sell the property to a developer.

The city announced the meeting in a Friday afternoon news release. The property, if purchased, will be bought at a price of $3.6 million with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, with the expected cost of demolition being $385,000, according to the agenda packet for Monday’s meeting. The demolition work will go through the competitive bid process.

City Manager Jeff Downes released the following statement Friday afternoon:

“Highway 31 is an important business and transportation corridor within Vestavia Hills and, as such, improvement of this corridor has long been a top priority of the Vestavia Hills elected officials and city staff,” Downs said. “The purchase of this property represents a more than two-year journey to deliver on the City Council’s desires and I am thrilled to publicly announce this positive action within our city. I whole-heartedly believe that the demolition and redevelopment of this property, in conjunction with the ongoing and future development of privately-owned commercial properties, will be pivotal in generating much needed momentum for improvement along Highway 31.”

No one answered the phone at Days Inn on Friday afternoon when a reporter called. This story will be updated if and when a call is returned.

The hotel has been mentioned by city leaders and police as a problem area for the city. In 2019, a Vestavia Voice report mentioned drugs, guns and prostitution had been problems at the hotel.

Bar 31, which sat adjacent to the hotel, recently closed. There are plans for nearby development, spearheaded by Ward Neely and John Michael Bodnar.

Monday’s meeting is set for 6 p.m. at Vestavia Hills City Hall.