Business View Magazine | February 2020

153 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 MOUNTA IN BROOK , ALABAMA “The Kessler Collection bought about 1.8 acres and put together a 100-room Grand Bohemian Hotel with very large conference areas,” Evans continues. “Then we built and sold the apartments and we’re ongoing with the development of the second phase of the retail; the first phase is completed and 100 percent leased – about 68,000 square feet - and the balance of the retail should start at the end of March or beginning of April, with a completion date, roughly, 18 months after we get started.” The Hotel, which opened in 2015, features the full-service Poseidon Spa; the 2,600-square- foot Grand Bohemian Gallery, with over 200 paintings and an attached sculpture garden; a 6,000-square-foot grand ballroom; wine tasting and wine blending rooms; the Habitat Feed & Social rooftop restaurant and bar; and a cooking school. Its guest rooms feature walk-in showers, Bose stereos, flat-screen TVs, and custom, hand- made furniture. Its two- and three-bedroom suites offer fireplaces and pool views. According to Dana Hazen, Mountain Brook’s Director of Planning, Building and Sustainability, the city helped to resolve some long-standing stormwater management issues before Evans could proceed with construction on the Lane Parke property. “There’s a creek adjoining it and a culvert that went through the middle of it,” she notes. “So, historically, we had a lot of flooding in the area and we needed to find a solution to the flooding problem.” City Manager, Sam Gaston, says, “The city received a FEMA grant and we enlarged the culvert in that area and did some other drainage improvements so that John could take all of the property out of the flood zone and build.” While, historically, the zoning laws in Mountain Brook have prohibited much mixed-use development, favoring single-family homes in the residential enclaves, and stand-alone retail/ commercial in the village centers, there has been ongoing discussion among the public and city officials, over the years, to change the abiding