University of Alabama looking for developer for property on Strip

TUSCALOOSA (AP) — The University of Alabama seeks a developer for its 1.6 acres on the Strip, possibly for retail and residential use.

The vacant lot and parking lot are located along Wallace Wade Avenue across from Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“We’ll see what kind of proposals we get,” said Deborah Lane, executive director of UA public relations.

The vacant lot was once part of the Strip business district before UA razed the retail building there to create a small buffer between the Strip and campus.

It’s possible a private company could buy most of the land next to UA’s property and redevelop it as well, but Lane told The Tuscaloosa News there is currently no joint venture between UA and a private company.

If a project includes neighboring property, that would be the sole responsibility of the developer, the UA proposal says.

The Tuscaloosa City Council last month approved rezoning the area so taller buildings in tighter spaces — such as a hotel or condominiums — could be built.

The change came at the urging of the university, said council member Lee Garrison, whose district includes the university area.

“It was basically done to try to create redevelopment in the area around the stadium,” he said.

The zoning change allows a hotel in the University Zone between University Boulevard on the north, Bryant Drive on the south, Wallace Wade Avenue on the east and 13th Avenue on the west.

It shrinks the minimum size for a planned-unit development in the area to two acres and allows a hotel. It allows structures of up to 150 feet in the block next to Wallace Wade Drive and structures of 80 feet in the block west of that.

Interest

One developer apparently
interested in the area is Spectrum Gameday, a division of Spectrum Capital in Jackson, Miss.

The company bought Stadium Apartments, long owned by the late Richard Pride and his family, for $6.24 million in August, according to Tuscaloosa County records.

The aging apartment complex sits on 1.92 acres on the western edge of UA’s parking lot on Wallace Wade and extend to Eighth Street.

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