New Vestavia retail center will top $4M

Birmingham Business Journal

November 8, 2002

Former University of Alabama All-American, opening her first gymnastics academy, will be the anchor tenant in the new Vestridge Commons shopping center under construction on U.S. Highway 31 in Vestavia Hills.

Sheryl Dundas Buroker, who helped the Crimson Tide win a national gymnastics title in 1991, is opening Premier Gymnastics Academy in 7,000 square feet of the 30,000-square-foot Vestridge Commons, overlooking U.S. 31 at Vestaridge Drive.

Popular Mexican restaurant Sol Azteca, now located a mile south in the Vestavia Motorlodge Motel, also will move into the retail center, which is a block south of the Winn-Dixie Marketplace.

Developer Jay Moss of Moss Properties Inc. says the $4 million complex, which will open in January, is designed to attract families.

"We're trying to make our tenant mix a family-oriented, neighborhood shopping center. We want to get people to come up there and keep them there for a while," Moss says.

That's a good possibility if Buroker and husband Brent are successful with Premier Gymnastics Academy. They hope to eventually attract 800 students and start an after-school care program.

"We're going to have a lot of moms dropping off their kids," Moss says. He's looking for a children's furniture or clothing store or other specialty retail stores for the remaining 8,000 square feet of available space, which includes a 5,000-square-foot bay in the center of the complex.

Other tenants include the fourth location of Roly Poly Rolled Sandwiches and the relocation of Monograms Plus, currently in the Riverchase Galleria.

The contractor for Vestridge Commons is Golden and Associates; the architect is Goodwyn Mills and Cawood.