Village at Whitesburg to get upscale makeover

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Huntsville Times

The Village at Whitesburg shopping center is about to undergo a transformation.

The center, located on the northwest corner of Whitesburg Drive and Airport Road, will get a new look plus new stores and restaurants, said Charles Grelier Jr., president of Chase Commercial Real Estate Services, the leasing and managing agent for the project. Construction is expected to begin this fall and take about five months.

"There will be pretty dramatic changes to the porticos, hardscape and facade," Grelier said last week. "We will be upgrading the tenant mix to more of a lifestyle mix."

Lifestyle centers are a current trend in retail development, with sidewalks, plazas and trendy shops and cafes.

"It's not necessarily going to be The Summit," Grelier said, referring to the large upscale shopping center in Birmingham, "but it's that type of concept."

He said a pedestrian-friendly plaza will be built in the corner of the shopping center, near the Thirsty Turtle pub.

He said he expects most of the existing tenants to stay, with vacancies being filled by new, upscale stores and restaurants.

A Bonefish seafood restaurant is currently under construction and is scheduled to be open by September, he said. Existing restaurants include McAllister's Deli, Qdoba, Subway, Thirsty Turtle and Ding How Chinese restaurant.

For years, the 120,000-square-foot shopping center has been anchored by a Winn Dixie store. That store was not on a list of sites the bankrupt grocery chain announced it has sold. Grelier said the site will become either a "high-end anchor" or space for shops.

Chase Group Partners, operated by Grelier's brother Max, is the developer.

Charles Grelier said he's not ready to announce any additional tenants, "but there's a lot of letters of intent.

"We're pretty close to signing several good tenants, another upscale restaurant for one."

Garden Cove lives

After getting a couple of calls last week saying that Garden Cove Produce near Five Points had closed, we had to check for ourselves. Perish the thought: Employees say the popular grocery and health food store is alive and well and there is no plan to close it. Garden Cove is located at the corner of Pratt Avenue and Meridian Street. For store hours and other information, see www.gardencoveproduce.com.

Gina Hannah can be reached by phone at532-4531, or e-mail at ginah@htimes.com.