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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Businesses in the shopping complex at the Vestavia City Center.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
The new green space area at the Vestavia City Center.
The Vestavia Hills City Center has been growing and adding new businesses over the past few months and soon will welcome several new restaurants and other businesses, improving upon the largest shopping center in the city along the U.S. 31 corridor.
The City Center encompasses the Publix shopping center, the area including the AMC theater, Planet Fitness and Starbucks, as well as the Stein Mart shopping center, though Stein Mart announced in August it would be closing. Owned by KPR, the leasing and recruitment is handled by Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors.
Taco Mama, the popular Mexican restaurant based in Birmingham, announced in mid-October it would move into the space next to Zoe’s Kitchen, hoping to open this winter or early spring.
Following that announcement, in an address to the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, Fred McFadden with KPR announced Crumbl Cookies, Chopt Creative Salad and Vestavia Hills Nutrition will be joining the City Center, with the former two businesses joining TrustCare Urgent Care in the former Rite Aid space.
An unnamed financial services business also is coming, and a liquor store will take up the previously empty space next to Publix. These moves follow the arrival of Pigtails and Crewcuts, a children’s hair salon, earlier in 2020.
Mary Beyer Lell, a principal partner at Crawford Square, said the company is trying to create more of a gathering space for people, especially in what she called the Plaza — the area including Moe’s and Starbucks.
In addition to adding businesses, KPR has recently invested in creating a green space between First Watch and Panera Bread at the Plaza. String lights were added overhead, and large TVs were installed, along with seating areas, to hopefully attract more people, McFadden previously said.
The plan is to have events in the space to draw more people to the City Center, McFadden said, including hosting tailgates, such as the one held Oct. 17 for the Georgia-Alabama football game.
Lell said there are plans to bring more tables to the green space and utilize that area as an entertainment district, meaning patrons could bring their alcohol outside.
Lell said it was awesome to see people out on the green space at the Oct. 17 tailgate. The city also held a Christmas tree lighting there Nov. 19.
“We always knew it had the potential to be there,” Lell said. “Vestavia really believed in us. To see people out there … it’s been awesome.”
Bringing in businesses such as Chopt, Crumbl and Taco Mama has helped the City Center meet the needs and desires of the Vestavia community, Lell said. She hopes this will keep people from driving out of town to spend their tax dollars.
Chopt, which is expanding all over the country, meets the demand for healthy options, and landing them in Vestavia was “a real coup,” Lell said.
Taco Mama will serve as a key attraction to an area of the shopping center that already has some traffic with Starbucks and Planet Fitness nearby.
“We’ve had our eye on Vestavia for a good while,” said Will Haver, founder of Taco Mama, in a statement. “It was just a matter of finding the right space, and we feel like the City Center is just that. It’s a great community, and with the recent improvements to the courtyard at City Center, we will be able to throw open our garage doors and let folks enjoy our laid-back, fun atmosphere and great patio. We are excited to bring our unique, fresh food and creative menu and hand-shaken margaritas to Vestavia.”
Taco Mama offers a selection of freshly prepared tacos, burritos, quesadillas and burrito bowls featuring premium, slow-roasted meats and fresh produce, prepared daily — with the option to “Build Your Own” or served “Our Way.” Taco Mama also will offer catering services with delivery or pickup, featuring taco/ nacho bars, burrito boxes and quesadilla trays to feed from 10 to 100,000 people.
Crumbl is a franchise owned by Rebecca and Jason Dickey.
“We’re really excited to be bringing this to the Birmingham area,” Rebecca Dickey said.
The restaurant will be the first in the Birmingham area and, in addition to their in-store offerings, will have a delivery option as well, Dickey said. The bakery inside has an open concept floor plan, allowing customers to watch the cookies being made. Each week, Dickey said there will be a warm chocolate chip cookie and chilled sugar cookie, and then four flavors that are rotated weekly. All cookies are made fresh daily.
Crumbl also offers Crumbl Cream, its specialty ice cream, which comes in six flavors.
Dickey said the plan is to open in early 2021, and to hire 30 to 40 employees. “People love it,” she said. “It’s a great place to work.”
All cookies come in Crumbl’s signature pink box, Dickey said.
With those new additions, Lell said the shopping center is almost full. As of early November, there were two available restaurant spaces and the Stein Mart space available, she said. That runs counter to some of the negative perception Lell said she has heard over the years.
“It’s not a vacant shopping center,” she said.
The work to improve the area and bring in more businesses has been about a 24-month project, and they remain bullish on their success, she said.
McFadden said it’s exciting to see all of the progress being made, especially in bringing more food and beverage options to the area.
Even in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected so many businesses, McFadden said he is optimistic about the future of the City Center’s tenants.
“I think we have a pretty good mix,” McFadden said. “Our tenants are in good shape overall.”
Lell said they’ve been fortunate in 2020. While many shopping centers struggled and didn’t have outdoor space, the City Center did. That, coupled with the reopening of Zoe’s and the AMC theater, has her optimistic for the future.
While the theater industry has been affected by COVID-19, Lell said she believes the theater will get back to normal and is already seeing people return.
“That was the top theater in its market, including Tuscaloosa,” Lell said. “It’s the nicest theater [in the market].”
The AMC theater in Vestavia is the only upgraded, premier theater of its kind owned by the company in the general area.
Moving into the future, Lell said she wants to continue upgrading the City Center and believes it is and will continue to be the prime center in Vestavia Hills. “I knew this could work, and I knew it would work, and to see it come to fruition is awesome.”
