In a move to bolster its cityscape, Huntsville’s City Council has given the green light to a groundbreaking mixed-use development project set to transform the Memorial Parkway frontage near Joe Davis Stadium. The monumental agreement between the City and Parkway Vesta, LLC aims to revitalize the heart of the city’s corridor with a project dubbed “Stadium Commons.”

Stadium Commons will be a sprawling hub of diverse experiences, combining a 100-room hotel, 70,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 20,000 square feet of office space, and 200 loft-style multifamily housing units. Furthermore, the development will include a 408-space parking garage, with 300 of these spaces earmarked for lease by the City to support events at John Hunt Park and Joe Davis Stadium.

Shane Davis, Huntsville’s Director of Urban and Economic Development, is excited about the project’s prospects.

“It brings much-needed uses to support the ever-growing sports and entertainment events in and around John Hunt Park as well as the surrounding neighborhood,” said Davis.

Stadium Commons is set to rise on the former Hollywood 18 and Century Plaza office complex, nestled conveniently between Drake Avenue and Johnson Road. The construction timeline spans three phases, commencing in mid-2024 and concluding by July 2026, with Phase 1 focusing on the hotel and retail space.

According to city officials, the project is poised to inject a staggering $32.5 million in new taxes into the local economy and promises a $22 million net return on investment over the course of a decade. The City anticipates that its $10.5 million investment in the 300 leased parking spaces will be recouped in a mere four and a half years.

Wesley Crunkleton, founder and principal at Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate, shared insights into the development’s evolution.

“It started off probably on a slightly smaller scale, and as we started discussions with the city, based on the viability of being able to expand the project, and make it larger in a nice footprint, right from the stadium and along the parkway… It really came down to the supply and demand of our city in the city of Huntsville and seeing the growth of our city,” said Crunkleton.

Crunkleton added, “Given that this is on the parkway that has, you know, 120,000 plus cars a day going in front of it, it is a highly traveled area. There’s just a lot of metrics that led us to believe that we could expand the scope of the project to meet the market demand.”

As Stadium Commons takes shape, it is poised to become a cornerstone of Huntsville’s thriving urban landscape. With its strategic location off the bustling South Memorial Parkway, the development boasts immense visibility, with an estimated 120,809 vehicles passing by daily. Its proximity to residential neighborhoods and the main business district of Downtown Huntsville adds to its allure.

The site also benefits from its adjacency to Joe Davis Stadium, accommodating up to 6,000 spectators, and it’s in close proximity to a roster of high-profile retailers, including Whole Foods, Ulta, Chuy’s, Hand & Stone, Orange Theory, Aldi, Academy Sports, and more.

As construction gears up to commence in 2024, the city awaits the unveiling of the tenants who will contribute to this exciting new chapter of Huntsville.