CAUFIELD SQUARE UPDATE!

The Jefferson County Commission began condemnation procedures on the remaining right-of-way parcel on May 15, 2007, and ALDOT has the project on the bid list in July, 2007, for the widening of Mt. Olive Road to accommodate this multimillion dollar development.  Two large pieces of machinery are working on the property this date.

Caufield Square is a mixed-use project, involving retail, office and residential components, which will have an upscale, quaint town square type feel with shops and restaurants.   Due to the developer's re-evaluation of the original plans for the entertainment facility, a decision was made to expand its size now [rather than later].  This decision caused a delay in installing the utilities because the building footprint increased. 

While the procedure has been frustrating and a couple of possible tenants have been lost due to the delays, the developer is cautiously optimistic that the development will be completed.

           Architectural firm GouldEvans Associates' rendering of Caufield Square Promenade, Gardendale, Alabama.

Birmingham Business Journal

$50M Gardendale project nears start

Kaija Wilkinson

Six Tuscaloosa-based developers doing business as Palladium Properties LLC are set to break ground this spring on a $50 million, mixed-used development in Gardendale that boasts a family-oriented entertainment complex as its centerpiece. Caufield Square will serve people from the traditionally underserved north Jefferson County area and hopes to draw visitors from Blount and Cullman counties to the north. Developers expect the primary attraction to be the entertainment complex, which includes a 10-screen, 2,100-seat stadium theater, arcade, bowling alley, children's party rooms and two anchor restaurants. But Caufield Square also will have retail, office and living space totaling slightly more than 300,000 square feet. This eclectic blend, as well a strategic location between Interstate 65 and U.S. Highway 31, bode well for its future, says Palladium managing partner Bob Jones, pointing out that reservations for the condo units, which will be in the $400,000 range, already exceed the number of units planned. Jones says Palladium will first focus on building the theater, aiming to be open by Thanksgiving 2006. Palladium will be the franchisee for Coldstone Creamery, the first announced retail tenant. He expects to make more announcements, most likely about the two restaurants, in the coming months. "The No. 1 movie theater co-tenant is restaurants, and the No. 2 co-tenant is bookstores," notes Jones. He describes the design, by Kansas City-based architecture firm GouldEvans Associates, as old European. Jones says it will incorporate materials such as brick and stucco.

"CITY OF GARDENDALE SIGNS A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH PALLADIUM PROPERTIES AT THE GARDENDALE CIVIC CENTER ON JANUARY 19, 2005"

Photo by Ann Phillips

CLOSING TIME

        Photo by Emilie Arkin

Former owners of property on Mt. Olive Road met with the Caufield Square developers Wednesday to take part in a massive final closing ceremony.  Once final paperwork was complete, signing over the properties, the former owners received long awaited checks.

City inks deal with Palladium Properties

Gardendale Mayor Kenny Clemons signed a development agreement with Palladium Properties, LLC, on Wednesday, which paves the way for Caufield Square.  Palladium also held a mass closing on the property on Wednesday with demolition of houses on Caufield Road, Mimosa Street and Mount Olive Road expected to take a month. “This is something that we feel is going to be a boom to the city,” Clemons said. “We feel that this is going to be something that will change the whole complexion of Gardendale in a very positive way.” The signing of the agreement was approved by the city council at Monday’s meeting. The agreement stated the City of Gardendale will spend just over $433,000 on street and utility improvements on the 22-acre site between Caufield Road and Gardendale Elementary School. Also, the city will repay Palladium half of the city sales taxes collected from Caufield Square businesses until the city pays just over $2.5 million, or until September of 2016. Clemons said the money will be paid quickly, according to the developers predictions. “They predict they will be paying the city $800,000 per year in sales tax in Gardendale.,” Clemons said. “That means we would be refunding them $400,000 a year until the amount on the agreement has been reached. This will be every business in Caufield Square including the theater, the bowling alley, and anything else that is in the development.” The council also approved the purchase of just over 4 1/2 acres from the Jefferson County Board of Education for a storm water detention pond for Caufield Square. The city will pay $34,000 for the land and the developers of the project will build the pond just west of Gardendale Elementary School. As per the city’s agreement with the BOE, the pond will also be used as a water retention spot for the new high school that is planned for Gardendale.  “We (the city) have several properties that will use the water retention site,” Clemons said. “That is why we felt it was important for the city to buy that land. The new school will also be able to use the site. That was a big reason we were able to acquire the land.” Clemons said the entire process was done in what he considers record-time. “This is the quickest thing that I’ve ever been involved with,” Clemons said. “Usually a project of this magnitude would take two years or more. We’ve done this whole thing in about eight months.”

By James Phillips
The North Jefferson News

ROAD PROJECT STILL SLOWING DOWN CAUFIELD SQUARE:

By:  James Phillips

The North Jefferson News

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Caufield Square is going to happen.
Unfortunately, the developers of the project are currently unsure of exactly when the facility, featuring an entertainment complex with a 10-screen movie theater, will open in Gardendale. The current projected opening date is November 2006. The developers, Palladium Cinema, are waiting on improvements to Mt. Olive Road to begin before they start construction on the project.“We can’t open and then have no way to handle all the traffic,” said Bob Jones, managing partner of Palladium Cinema. The road project has been on the books for many years and the Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Department are in the process of acquiring right of way property for the road improvement. Once the right of way properties are acquired, the county will turn the property over to the Alabama Department of Transportation to bid the project out. Jones said Jefferson County Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins and Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Director Wayne Sullivan assured him it the county would have right of way for Mt. Olive Road in place by August and hope to hand the project over to the state by October.“I met with Commissioner Collins and Wayne Sullivan last week and they said August was when they should have the right of way ready,” Jones said. “They said this project is a priority for the county. In August, we’ll know if it is a priority. If the right of way acquisition goes well, we hope to start site work in August also.” The developers have retained Atlanta-based company who will be responsible for retail leasing at Caufield Square. Jones said members of the marketing team will be in Gardendale and Birmingham this week to study the uniqueness of the market. “They are in charge of filling up the shopping area,” Jones said. “We are exciting about the possibilities for the types of businesses that will be in Caufield Square.” Jones said his group is interested in hearing from members of the Gardendale community as to what businesses they would like to see in Caufield Square. Those correspondences can be sent to bjones@thepalladium.us or posted on AL.com’s Gardendale forum. “We want ideas from the community and the forum on AL.com is a good place to send their ideas,” Jones said. “I’m checking it almost daily to see what people are saying about Caufield Square.”

Palladium has tapped O'Leary Partners Inc. of Atlanta to market the retail component of Caufield Square, which is expected to comprise 130,000 square feet on the bottom floors of four, three-story buildings. The floors will contain residential and office space. The property also has two outparcels. Bryan Jones of O'Leary Partners says soft goods, furniture and book retailers have shown interest, but nothing has been finalized yet. In addition to these and the restaurants, he will be looking to land specialty retailers such as a bakery and coffee shop and traditional service tenants like dry cleaners, sandwich shops, and nail salons. A major grocery store is unlikely. Those involved in the project say it will be a big draw, particularly the entertainment portion. Palladium anticipates the complex will draw 510,000 annually, play host to more than 1,000 birthday parties each week and draw people from greater Birmingham but also northern counties. "People will drive from a 20-mile radius, at least, to go to the entertainment portion because it's so unique," says Bryan Jones, who is not related to the developer. According to company literature, "there are no other theaters north of Interstate 20 in the competitive trade area, while there are 12 (theaters) servicing markets to the south." Bob Jones says that although most lifestyle centers contain large movie theaters, it's unusual for one to be part of a mixed-use community. This is the first venture of Palladium Properties, he says, although the principals all have experience in mixed-use development. Including access roads and retention ponds, the development will cover 32 acres, Bob Jones says, adding that the project would have been bigger if an additional 70 acres had been available.

In preparation for the traffic generated by Caufield Square, Jefferson County is in the final stages of acquiring the right-of-way to embark on a $3 million project to widen Mt. Olive Road, which runs adjacent to Caufield Square past the Gardendale Civic Center and a Shoney's restaurant. First announced in early 2005, the widening of the road has been slow to get started, but Bob Jones says he's confident that county government will move forward in a few weeks. The city of Gardendale is also confident that a connector road from Mount Olive to Odum Road (a thoroughfare father west that includes Murphy Oil and Jim N Nicks) will be built. Weather has been holding up the project, says Robert Ryant, building inspections superintendent for the city, but he hopes ground will be broken late this month. Once completed, this road could spur further development, says Ryant. If interest from potential homebuyers is any indication, the future of Caufield Square looks bright. Gary Travis of Travis Realty LLC in Gardendale says he has a waiting list for the 20 or so luxury units that will be priced from around $150 to $160 per square foot. They will range in size from 1,600 to 2,100 square feet, each with a custom-designed floor plan and patio. Two of the buildings in the development will contain the condos. Jones says he hopes the residences will begin coming online in spring 2007, coinciding with additional road improvements.