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Illustration courtesy of Homewood City Councilor Jennifer Andress’ newsletter
Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center has proposed a plan to renovate and convert the former Belk department store building in Brookwood Village into a roughly 135,000-square-foot medical office.
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Illustration courtesy of Homewood City Councilor Jennifer Andress’ newsletter
Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center has proposed a plan to renovate and convert the former Belk department store building in Brookwood Village into a roughly 135,000-square-foot medical office.
The city of Homewood’s Planning Commission will host public hearings and discuss plans for change at Brookwood Village during Tuesday’s meeting, marking the first real action that has been made to revitalize the shopping center since its last anchor store, Macy’s, closed in January of 2022.
Many people have since wondered what was to become of the barren space, but now they have an answer, or at least part of one. Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center has proposed a plan to renovate and convert the former Belk department store building into a roughly 135,000-square-foot medical office.
“Andrews is a great addition to Homewood. They're a great business,” said Ward 5 Councilor Jennifer Andress. “They're long-time, quality medical care. We will be honored and thrilled to have them here if they get approved for their project. We’d certainly love having them in Homewood.”
Andress shared the news about the public hearings and development plan in her newsletter on Thursday as the property falls within her ward.
Andrews Sports Medicine is an industry leading organization with a reputation of excellence in sports medicine and orthopedic patient care, research, education and prevention. Their headquarters is currently located at 805 St. Vincents Drive, Suite 100 in Birmingham. They are also affiliated with local high schools, including Homewood, Mountain Brook, Hoover, Oak Mountain, Spain Park and Vestavia.
Fairway Investments and Pope & Land Real Estate own the 57 acres that make up Brookwood Village, and the property sits in the middle of Shades Mountain and Shades Creek. The land is split between three municipalities: Homewood, Mountain Brook and Jefferson County.
“That piece of property is a really big part of Ward 5,” said Andress. “I use it on the regular, going between the two trails, and it was very important to me. One of the reasons I ran for City Council was connecting this neighborhood to the trail, and we did that through a crosswalk in front of the Marriott and then a crosswalk over off of Windsor Drive in front of Macy's. That's how important that piece of property is in this neighborhood.”
In Tuesday’s meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing for a request for approval of a resurvey subdividing the 14-acre Brookwood property into three separate lots to allow for additional development in conjunction with a related proposed development plan. A hearing will also be held for a request to approve an amendment to the final development plan.
Representatives from Andrews Sports Medicine will be there to present their plans, and the public is invited to come and speak on the topic. Andress said that the meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday of the month, and she recognizes this meeting falls on election night and that people will just be getting off work and may still have to go vote. However, the development proposal is available on the city’s website and in the agenda.
The Planning Commission will have to pass the topic on to referrals and then to the council before any plans can be approved, a process that will take several weeks. If the development is approved, the remaining land available at Brookwood Village will still include Homewood, Mountain Brook and Jefferson county. Andress said any collaboration between the municipalities will depend on what future developments will land on the property.
The meeting will be at City Hall in the second-floor Council Chambers on Tuesday at 6 p.m. For the full meeting agenda, visit https://bit.ly/4fwtOyz.
The Homewood Star will cover the meeting, so keep an eye out for updates.
