Birmingham City Council approves site work for new Crossplex development
After two prior delays, the Birmingham City Council voted to approve about $3.75 million in site work for the much-anticipated Crossplex Retail Development Project in Five Points West at their regular meeting on Dec. 13.
As part of their consent agenda, members approved a bid by Chilton Contractors of Clanton.
The site work is necessary so that Birmingham developer Bob Nesbitt can proceed with actual construction work on a project he previously said he hoped to complete by late spring 2017.
The vote was delayed at previous council meetings on Nov. 8 and Nov. 22, after several members – including Council President Johnathan Austin, Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt and Councilor Lashunda Scales – raised questions about the mix and quality of the businesses, including a hotel, that are planned for the development. The measure was sent back to the budget and finance committee for further discussion.
Some of the council’s concerns were allayed after a meeting of the committee on Monday night, Dec. 12, according to a council spokesperson.
Nesbitt, a former banker, received approval from the council earlier this year to begin developing about 40 acres on Bessemer Road near the city-owned Crossplex for retail, offices, entertainment, apartments and other uses.
On Nov. 8, Hoyt said the city should strive to have high-quality tenants at the Crossplex, just as it did at the Uptown Entertainment District at the BJCC.
On Nov. 22, the council did approve the construction of a new access road, called Crossplex Boulevard, inside the development.
Old library to be repurposed
The council voted 9-0 to amend an agreement with 5 Points West Developers LLC, a company that is purchasing the old Five Points Library from the city for $25,000 and has agreed to spend about $565,000 to convert the building into professional office space – specifically a business incubator.
According to the amendment, the city and the developers will increase the inspection period from 60 to 120 days and adjust the project completion date accordingly.
The facility is located at 4626 Avenue V.
Central Park neighborhood President Susan Palmer spoke favorably of the project at the meeting.
“The neighborhood is aware that the building is vacant,” she told the council. “We’ve been praying that someone would redevelop it.”
Cemetery resolution back to committee
Councilor William Parker introduced a resolution to support legislation to create a Jefferson County Cemetery Board during the next regular session of the Alabama Legislature, but the council voted to send the resolution back to the public improvements committee for further discussion.
Parker, along with some state legislators, has been active in trying to force improvements to the run-down Zion Memorial Gardens Cemetery in his district, on Tarrant-Huffman Road.
The next regular legislative session begins Feb. 7, 2017.