A major new retail development near Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile is set to break ground later this month, bringing a lineup of national retailers to a 650,000-square-foot shopping center. The groundbreaking ceremony for McGowin Park is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 25, after previously being pushed back from an earlier date in late June.
George Alexandris, vice president of development with The Hutton Company, the Chattanooga-based firm behind the project, said he expects the center to be fully complete by the summer of 2015. The Hutton Company is developing the property alongside JLL, a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm handling leasing for the site.
According to information released this week by the two firms, the retailer lineup for McGowin Park includes Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Hobby Lobby, Petco, Costco, Regal Cinemas, Ashley Furniture and HomeGoods. The mix reflects a blend of big-box retail, home goods, sporting goods and entertainment options aimed at drawing shoppers from across the Mobile area.
Alexandris said additional details about the development, including further specifics on store layouts and additional tenants, would be shared during the groundbreaking ceremony later this month. The project’s location near Hank Aaron Stadium places it in a highly visible corridor already frequented by shoppers and event-goers in the area.
The scale of the development, at roughly 650,000 square feet, would make McGowin Park one of the larger retail additions to the Mobile market in recent years, joining a wave of commercial development activity in the region. The presence of Costco in particular marks a significant addition, as the warehouse retailer has drawn strong interest in markets where it has newly arrived.
With construction slated to begin this month and a completion target of next summer, the project gives Mobile shoppers a timeline for when they can expect the new stores to open. In the meantime, the developers say more concrete details on individual store openings and site plans will follow as the groundbreaking approaches.
The addition of Regal Cinemas alongside the retail tenants suggests the center is also being positioned as an entertainment destination, rounding out the shopping options with a movie theater component. Local officials and residents will get their first official look at the full scope of the project when the ceremonial groundbreaking takes place this month.