| Location | Alabaster, Alabama, USA |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 2005 |
| Developer | Colonial Properties |
| Management | Colonial Properties |
| Owner | Colonial Properties |
| No. of stores and services | approx. 44 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 12 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2), with 685,326 square feet (64,000 m2) in the first phase and 355,269 square feet (33,000 m2) in the second phase |
| Parking | Parking lot |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Website | Official Website |
The Colonial Promenade Alabaster is an open air regional shopping center that opened in 2005 and is located in Alabaster, Alabama, United States.[1] The 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m2) shopping center is the largest in Shelby County and it was developed by Colonial Properties Trust. It was at the center of a nationally publicized controversy over the use of eminent domain to facilitate private commercial development.
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The $70 million first phase (on the east side of I-65 near U.S. Highway 31) encompasses 685,000 square feet (64,000 m2) on 111.2 acres (0.450 km2) with 18 tenants. These tenants include an AmStar 14 Cinema, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Books-A-Million, Lowe's, Old Navy, Dollar Tree, Ross Dress For Less, and Wal-Mart Supercenter. Smaller tenants include Aliant Bank, a Bible Factory Outlet, Cellular Sales, Chuckie's Grilled Subs, Claire's, Cold Stone Creamery, Extreme Wireless, GameStop, Habaneros, Hibbett Sports, Home Theater Experience, Lee Nails, Merle Norman, Moe's Southwest Grill, Perry Allen Gifts, rue21, Sally Beauty Supply, Thacker's, Trade Secret, Radioshack, AT&T, and Wells Fargo. Outparcel tenants include Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-fil-A, Full Moon Bar-B-Q, Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q, R. J. Gator's, Ruby Tuesday, and Taco Bell. A 150-room Wingate By Wyndham with a restaurant and conference facilities is located uphill from the Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The smaller second phase, known as Colonial Promenade Alabaster II, is on the west side of I-65 and occupies 55 acres (220,000 m2). The tenants include a dentist's office, Arby's, Best Buy, Christopher & Banks, DressBarn, Firehouse Subs, GNC, Great Clips, HobbyTown USA, JCPenney, Kay Jewelers, Lane Bryant, LongHorn Steakhouse, Maurices, McDonald's, Olive Garden, PetSmart, Princess Nails, Rack Room Shoes, Regions Bank, Sports Mania, Starbucks, T.J. Maxx, Target, and Thompson's Frame's.
The Alabaster Dairy Queen moved to the Colonial Promenade in 2009.
In December 2007, Colonial Properties sold Colonial Promenade Alabaster II and 2 outparcels but continued to manage the property.[2]
In December 2009, Colonial Properties reacquired Colonial Promenade after a joint venture was dissolved.[3]
The project was opposed by some of the property owners whose land was needed for the development.[4] A group of ten owners sued the City of Alabaster and Colonial Properties to prevent the controversial use of eminent domain to force them to sell approximately 10 of the 400 acres needed. In June 2003, the Alabaster City Council voted 6–0 (with 1 abstention) to adopt the I-65, 238 Urban Renewal and Urban Redevelopment Plan which determined that the property in question was a "blighted area".[5] The city subsequently entered into an agreement to condemn and seize the land, and then exchange it and certain infrastructure improvements for the construction of new facilities to be provided by Shelby Land Partners, a limited-liability corporation established to negotiate with the city for the development.[6] At the time, Wal-Mart and Belk had already been announced as prospective tenants.
Lily Spence, a landowner whose property had been condemned for the development, appeared on CNN to voice her objections to having her property condemned and to the price offered.[7] The case was cited by Alabama state legislators who passed legislation severely restricting the scope of public uses allowed in eminent domain cases.[8] The July 2005 law followed a Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London, a Connecticut dispute, that the matter was for states to decide.[9]