NOW OPEN
Former University of Alabama football player and UFC middleweight fighter Eryk Anders on Sept. 22 held a ribbon cutting for his new Ya Boi Fitness Academy in the former location of D1 Training at 1014 Montgomery Highway in Vestavia Hills. 205-747-0051
COMING SOON
Liberty Park residents Adam and Mia Scott plan to open Kubu Bali Day Spa on about an acre of land at 1090 Lantern Way in the Liberty Park Bray Town Center. Looking from Liberty Parkway, it will be behind the Chevron gasoline station and to the left of The Filmont apartments. Construction began in mid-October, and the spa is expected to open in the fall of 2026, Adam Scott said. The facility will have about 4,400 square feet of air-conditioned space and a 1,200-square-foot enclosed outdoor courtyard, he said. Mia Scott, who is from Bali, will operate the spa and offer a full range of services that includes massages, facials, waxing, nail services, a sauna and steam shower. There also will be a 450-square-foot private events room for small group events or parties. The outdoor courtyard — inspired by a Balinese water garden — was designed by Faith Miller of Schoel Engineering, and the spa building was designed by Gray Reese of Gray Reese Architects.
RENOVATIONS AND RELOCATIONS
The Walmart Neighborhood Market at 1300 Montgomery Highway scheduled its grand reopening celebration for Oct. 31-Nov. 2 following an extensive remodeling project. The pharmacy was tripled in size, and the project also included new plumbing and stalls in the bathrooms, new cash registers, new refrigerated cooling units, some new shelving, removal of the tile floor and polishing of the concrete floor, store officials said. 205-822-9994
NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The real estate program at the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business has been named after Rance Sanders of Vestavia Hills after the college received a $5 million gift from Sanders and his wife, Angie. The gift will enable the college to start a new real estate undergraduate major and expand experiential learning opportunities to enhance students’ skills through real-world applications. The donation will allow students and advisors to attend conferences and participate in real estate-focused case competitions annually and allow students to participate in live-work-play opportunities each year. Sanders is president and CEO of The Sanders Trust, a health care real estate firm with properties across 30 states, and he launched Sanders Capital Partners, expanding into retail, office and light industrial real estate investments. He has been a fixture in the Birmingham real estate community for more than 40 years and is considered a pioneer in the national health care real estate industry. In 2007, he established the Rance M. Sanders Endowed Real Estate Scholarship, which currently awards about $7,500 to as many as six students each academic year. He also is a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet and is a board member of the 1831 Foundation.
Vestavia Hills’s Jennifer Hallman was among 15 people from Alabama who were honored Sept. 13 when the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) announced the winners of its 2025 Professional Communications Contest. The announcement was the final event of the organization’s 2025 National Conference in Golden, Colorado. Hallman placed in Children’s Book/Fiction. Hallman earned her prize for her book “How Mae Got Moxie.” She and the other Alabama winners are members of Alabama Media Professionals, an affiliate chapter of NFPW.
ANNIVERSARIES
Monograms Plus at 1360 Montgomery Highway in October celebrated its 35th anniversary. 205-738-8604
