Photo by Erin Nelson.
An empty lot on U.S. 31 just past the Interstate 65 corridor will be the site of a new WaffleHouse.
The new Waffle House restaurant coming to the southern end of U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills is on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vestavia City Manager Jeff Downes said.
When restaurants shut down due to the pandemic, Waffle House made the decision to suspend all new construction, and the city is being told it is a “matter of time” before the work to build the new restaurant gets started, Downes said.
The restaurant will be at the site of the Old Motor Lodge. Another Waffle House is less than a mile away on Columbiana Road.
Downes said Waffle House has submitted a complete set of construction drawings and has signaled its investment, so the city remains optimistic it will get done.
Njeri Boss, Waffle House’s director of public relations, released the following statement in an email:
“While the Alabama location build remains planned, it has not yet been scheduled given the effects of the pandemic on our business. We currently are focusing on completing renovations and finalizing builds that already were scheduled for completion or that nearly were completed prior to [the] cone of uncertainty the pandemic wrought.”
Downes said work to bring in more businesses to the southern end of the city is ongoing, and the city also is using any available ordinances to clean up the area, including demolition at the Motor Lodge site and ongoing efforts to have trailers removed from the area. Downes said the city can use ordinances deeming private property a nuisance if necessary and can use ordinances outlawing the placing of inoperable vehicles if they are in the city’s right of way.
Other developments in the area, such as Baumhower’s and Dunkin’, help create momentum to improve that part of town as well, Downes said.
