0713 Green Springs Sign
Cutting right through the heart of Homewood, Green Springs Highway appears to drivers as a two-mile mass of posts, power lines and signage. It’s anchored at both ends by the city’s only concentrations of fast food eateries, and most of its shopping centers, while modern in appearance when they were built, have seen styles change numerous times since their most recent facelifts.
Retail companies sometimes describe it using the phrase “discount district.”
But there are two things every Homewood shopper should know about the area, and neither is a reason to worry about the health of the corridor. First, companies already consider it prime real estate.
Second, it’s soon to be even more appealing.
Homewood’s most visible plan to both improve the stretch from Lakeshore Drive to Valley Avenue was the creation of the Green Springs Urban Renewal District (GURD). The zoning ordinance prevents unattended businesses – such as vehicle dealerships – from locating along the corridor. It also adjusts signage regulations to improve the look of Green Springs, thereby attracting more mid-range and high-end retailers and assisting businesses currently operating along the highway.
“You kind of have to go back several years,” Mayor Scott McBrayer said. “I remember even before Publix located there it was just a vacant piece of property, and Green Springs was really suffering. It’s taken a while, but (GURD is) beginning to do what we’d hoped.”
Dunn Real Estate Company took a look at both the numbers and Homewood’s commitment to improving the corridor and jumped on board in late 2011. The company purchased the former Mazer location with the intention of developing it into a retail hub but wasn’t sure which businesses would be interested.
“Green Springs always had that stigma to it, one that is more negative unfortunately than positive,” Dunn Real Estate president Chris Hoyt said. “It has everything retailers want, but it’s a funny location.”
Terra Equities, a minor partner in the deal with Dunn, lists on its website that 190,000 people live within five miles of the location and more than 29,000 cars pass by on Green Springs each day. Dunn explained that all companies find those numbers attractive. However, some are more drawn to Green Springs’ availability to Homewood and Vestavia residents, and some are attracted by its access to the more densely populated Birmingham Southside.
“You have a market that could support two classes of retailers,” Hoyt said. “It’s never going to be The Summit, but it can support both mid-range and low-end. Where we are, as we’re moving forward with redeveloping our property, is we want to bring in a higher-end retailer that does not currently exist on Green Springs.”
First up, a Pep Boys Supercenter is projected to open in the near future on Dunn Real Estate’s property. The business is slated to occupy more than 17,000 square feet and will be one of only three of the company’s Supercenters in the state. After that, Hoyt anticipates Pep Boys’ presence will help fill remaining spots on the property.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, but it’s been a little tough getting people to sign leases,” he said. “That has less to do with the property and more to do with the broader economy. Retailers in general all got burned with the collapse of 2007 and 2008, and many are just now looking again at areas that have long been established but have gotten a little stale – areas that need to be spruced up, like Green Springs.”
But according to McBrayer, GURD isn’t the City of Homewood’s only plan to impact future development on Green Springs. He said the Council is primed and ready to spend approximately $5 million on its second phase – West Homewood.
Since November 2012, the public has been aware of the City’s desire to create a new zoning district west of I-65 that would mix in neighborhood-friendly retail to reshape the area’s identity. The City brought in the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPC) to study what residents wanted, and together they organized a plan to give it to them.
Of course, there’s no immediate connection to Green Springs, but McBrayer sees the investment in West Homewood as something like an economic trap for the corridor.
“I believe developers are watching us, and when they see and hear about the improvements being made from Green Springs down to (Barber’s Dairy on West Oxmoor Road), they’ll know we’re committed,” he said. “Developers will say, ‘Good lord, a quarter of a mile from here the City is investing $5 million in upgrades.’”
To McBrayer, that investment will “attack both sides” of the Green Springs corridor. With Edgewood, Vestavia Hills and West Homewood on the rise, he said he believes it won’t be long before the face of Green Springs fits in with its neighbors.
“West Homewood is going to be the key,” he said. “It’s where our residents are, and they’ve just had nothing for years. What we’re going to do on that side of I-65 will create the perfect storm. Some said it’s backward thinking, but I felt if we just hopped over, it would have to meet in middle.”
The City Council had already seen the RPC’s plan for redevelopment and pushed it through committee as of deadline. It was scheduled to appear for approval on the Council’s agenda in its meeting June 24. McBrayer believes it will pass and begin a transitional phase for parts of Homewood he said have long deserved it.
“I just want to see (Green Springs) improved,” City Council President Bruce Limbaugh said. “I want it to be a place that’s safe for my three grandkids as they become teens and young adults.”
The Homewood Star is interested in what you think. Is the GURD zoning district working to improve the corridor? Will developing West Homewood attract high-end retail to Green Springs? Comment below or email your thoughts to editor@thehomewoodstar.com.
