Colonial Brookwood Village (also known as Brookwood Village or Brookwood Mall) is a 750,754-square-foot (69,747 m2) upscale shopping mall located near Birmingham in "the cities of Mountain Brook and Homewood, Alabama". [1][2] [3]
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It was constructed in 1973 by the Shepherd family. The original building was designed by Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects and won a design award that year from Shopping Center World Magazine. Because the mall is located next to a stream bed with weak soil, the foundation for the mall is built in deep piles bearing on rock strata. A feature of the original mall was a large skylit atrium in the center with a large fountain populated with tree-like sprayers that filled the area with white noise and mist.
An interior remodeling in the late 1980s decked over the fountain to create a dining and special events platform. New lighting, escalators and flooring were installed and many shop fronts were upgraded.
In 1997, Brookwood Village was purchased for $35 million by Colonial Properties and renamed "Colonial Brookwood Village." Colonial embarked almost immediately on an extensive $50 million overhaul which was completed in 2001. Major additions include a new two-story atrium with a food court on the upper level with a "front entrance" for the mall, facing a new outdoor shopping street, modeled on "lifestyle centers" like the Summit Birmingham. What had been a relatively anonymous interior-facing design was transformed into an attractive outdoor space with a pedestrian bridge over Shades Creek and a shared terrace for two anchor restaurants. This outdoor space also provides outside entrances for several mall tenants, features limited parallel parking, and serves as a valet parking station. The street is also part of a six-mile (10 km) long walking trail which follows Shades Creek from Green Springs Highway to Jemison Park in Mountain Brook.
The enclosed three separate parking areas (East and West 2-level decks and Center Ground Level under the Mall have been connected by ramps. Faux building facades energize the outer walls of the decks. The redesign was conceptualized by Street-Works, an Arlington, Virginia-based urban design firm. HKW Architects of Birmingham served as architect of record and developed the conceptual designs for construction. Gar Muse of Cooper Carry, Inc. planned the interiors and contributed to the overall look, drawing from characteristics of the nearby Mountain Brook and Lakeshore communities. Brasfield & Gorrie were general contractors for the revitalization.
Colonial Properties recently added a 9 story office tower on the western end of the mall to house its corporate headquarters as well as additional office and retail space. Further expansion will include a mix of retail, office, residential condos and possibly a hotel.
In 2005, the Rich's location (which was one of the mall's original anchor stores) was converted to Macy's on March 6 marking Macy's third entry into the Birmingham market.
Anchor tenants for Brookwood Village are Macy's on the east end (replacing Rich's which had been in the mall since 1975, 232,000 sq ft (21,600 m2)) and Belk (which replaced Parisian in 2007, 106,000 sq ft (9,800 m2)), occupying the western end, representing a same-owner upgrade from McRae's (Pizitz until the late 1980s). Other major tenants include Gus Mayer, Cache Luxe, Betsy Prince, Ann Taylor Loft, Z Gallerie, Books-A-Million (formerly Books & Co.), American Eagle, Victoria's Secret, Hollister Co. and Banana Republic. Full service restaurants include Plaza III the Steakhouse, Brio Tuscan Grille, Cocina Superior, and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant.
In February 2006 Colonial Properties went before the Homewood Planning Commission with plans for a new nine-story office tower to be located adjacent to Belk on the west side of the mall. In April, law firm Johnston Barton Proctor & Powell announced that they would be moving from their present offices in downtown Birmingham into 40,000 square feet (4,000 m2) of the new $35.8 million 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m2) office building. Colonial Properties Trust also plans to consolidate its Birmingham-area staff of about 150 people into the new building. Plans call for 13,000 square feet (1,200 m2) of ground floor specialty retail, a covered walkway connecting the building to Belk, and redundant power feeds from two separate substations to reduce the likelihood of outages.
Future plans for Brookwood Village have previously also mentioned a luxury hotel, but no firm plans regarding that possibility have been announced.
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