For almost 10 years, Keith Owens, CEO and managing partner of Alumni Properties, and his development partner, Roy Price, Chairman of Alumni Properties, have been working to bring a retail development project to his hometown. Now with the first phase of the District 31 development underway in Alabaster, the team is poised to accomplish their goal.
Originally focused on properties behind JCPenney in The Promenade, the team turned their attention to property on the opposite side of I-65 with visibility from the interstate and Highway 31. “We started acquiring property in 2016 (the site includes 59 separate parcels),” Owens says. “We worked with the landowners and Shelby Abstract & Title to clear up the land issues.”
District 31 is a $250-million, multi-phase “power-village” project that is spread across 75 acres and will bring over 600,000 square feet of new retail, restaurant, and hotel space to Alabaster. “District 31 is the largest retail-dominant commercial project in Alabama,” Owens says. “It’s a big win for Alabaster, as well as residents of Shelby, Chilton, and Bibb counties.”
Alabaster City Administrator Brian Binzer agrees. “District 31 is the largest commercial development in Alabaster in over a decade,” he says. “It will be a revenue generator, which is critical. We are a growing city, and we must continue to grow our tax base to support the needs of the city. Sales tax is the city’s primary source of revenue, and it allows us to provide the level of service that our citizens deserve.”
In 2024, the Alabaster City Council approved an incentive package for the development. The $84.85-million maximum agreement covers sales, property, and construction tax rebates over a 30-year period, applying only to a portion of new tax proceeds created by the development. The development is estimated to generate $2.8 million per year in new city sales tax, an estimated $1.4 million in new school sales tax, and create at least 1,000 new jobs. Alumni will also make improvements to Highway 31, Seventh Avenue, and Ninth Avenue Southeast, which will serve as one of the development’s entrances.
The first phase of the development is under construction and will be known as the Shoppes at District 31, located on five acres fronting Highway 31. The Shoppes include 14 spaces—36,000 square feet—for retail and restaurants, including Five Guys, Cava, Chipotle, First Watch, and more. The team broke ground on The Shoppes site at the end of summer 2024, with an anticipated opening in late Fall 2025.
Owens has called Alabaster home since 2002 and views the market as a prime location for a development like District 31. Roy Price, a lifetime resident of Clanton, and his family depend on the Alabaster market for their major retail shopping. “We would have been attracted to the market even if I hadn’t lived here, as we both believe in the area and the residential and commercial growth, created by the pro-business nature of the city,” Owens says. “But being a resident adds another layer of motivation but also adds additional pressure. I know the market and needs from a retail and restaurant standpoint, so I can give firsthand feedback to our leasing team at Retail Specialists and tenant prospects who are considering the project, Alabaster, and Shelby County.” Binzer continues, “This is a flagship project for Alumni, and Keith wanted to do it here. He wanted to see this project through in Alabaster.”
Currently, site work is underway for the relocation and upgrades of utilities that support the Promenade, and while Owens knows people would like to see faster progress, he notes that this step is important to the entire development. “While it seems slow, this step is a critical piece of the project, upgrading the infrastructure and utility work that must be done on the site before the mass grading and construction can start on the main District properties,” Owens says. “We are making significant upgrades to the sanitary, roads, and storm water systems in the first phase of the project. Additional upgrades by the Alabaster Water Board are currently in process to bring commercial domestic and fire water service to the property.”
Owens expects to break ground on the larger development early this year with an anticipated opening in 2026. District 31 will bring seven new-to-market national and regional anchor stores, new national brand-name sit-down full-service and fast-casual restaurants, new smaller boutique-style retail, a national brand hotel, and 12,000 square feet of office space. Alumni Properties will relocate their corporate office to District 31, where they will be the anchor tenant for the office space. Owens hopes to announce the hotel brand in late 2025, with an anticipated opening in Spring 2027.
Both Owens and Binzer hope that District 31 will be a catalyst for future development in Alabaster. “When you have a big project like this, it creates what we call a Halo Effect,” Binzer says. “Success attracts success. Other developers will start to look at the area and see that it works. It will almost certainly attract other developers to consider projects in the area.”
“We hope District 31 is a catalyst for Alabaster and creates a ripple effect for more development here,” Owens says. “We want to generate revenue to support future projects. I can’t wait to see it!”