By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
Vestavia Hills city officials have agreed to reduce their asking price for the current municipal building.
The City Council recently agreed to reduce the purchase price of $1.5 million to $1.37 million to facilitate road improvements Chick-fil-A must make if it wants to build a restaurant at the site.
In March, the council approved an agreement with the Georgia-based restaurant corporation to purchase the municipal building at 513 Montgomery Highway.
The city plans to build a new municipal complex on the former Food World property in the Vestavia Plaza Shopping Center and on adjacent property which was the former site of Joe’s Ranch House. But during the due-diligence period, Chick-fil-A discovered site improvement issues that will cost about $500,000 to address.
The Alabama Department of Transportation has also required Chick-fil-A to extend turn lanes and entry points into the site, which will cost about $122,000.
City officials have agreed to reduce the price to move the project along, City Manager Jeff Downes said.
Chick-fil-A still has to apply to rezone the property from institutional to business, a process that could take some months, Downes said.
