Overview

• Hunden Partners presented a six-month, $200,000 market study to the Hoover City Council that recommends a two-phase redevelopment of the mall’s south campus.
• Phase One would demolish the former Sears box and add 282 apartments, about 28,000 square feet of retail, an approximately 1,100-seat Center for the Arts, and a 25,000-square-foot public plaza.
• Phase Two contemplates removing the current Macy’s space and an adjacent corridor to build 260 additional apartments, roughly 16,000 square feet of retail, and a 19,000-square-foot plaza, assuming control of that parcel.
• The plan carries a price tag exceeding $240 million and projects $396 million in net new spending, $74 million in earnings, 156 full-time equivalent jobs, and $9.2 million in new city taxes over 10 years, with further sales tax decline forecast if no action occurs.
• The study cites a 33% drop in foot traffic since 2019, tenant losses and safety perceptions as key challenges, and it outlines next steps that include public funding decisions and negotiations with property owners, with no date set for further council action.