By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
By next month, the city of Vestavia Hills should own two pieces of property where it plans to build a new municipal complex.
City officials confirmed recently they’re in the final process of acquiring the old Food World building at 1052 Montgomery Highway in the Vestavia Plaza Shopping Center and the Joe’s Ranch House property at 1105 Mayland Lane, adjacent to the former Food World property.
The city is purchasing the former Food World building for about $1.15 million and Joe’s Ranch House for about $825,000, officials said.
Vestavia Hills officials plan to build a new municipal complex to straddle both sites. The old Food World building is about 28,000 square feet, but city officials say they need a minimum of 40,000 square feet.
City officials have also said they plan to sell the current city hall. Chick-fil-A has been mentioned as a potential buyer.
“We’re not going to do anything until we’ve actually purchased Joe’s Ranch House and the old Food World building,” said Council President Steve Ammons. “Once we have that done, we’re set on go to immediately sell. We just want to make sure we have a place to go before we sell this property.”
City Manager Jeff Downes said the city should close on both properties within the next 30 days.
He said it should take 18 to 24 months for a new municipal complex to be built.
The current city hall at 513 Montgomery Highway, also on U.S. 31, was built in the 1950s. It wasn’t initially designed as a municipal building. It currently doesn’t meet the needs of the police or fire administration, city officials say.
The current city hall has about 35,000 square feet.
