A long-running push to turn a sprawling, oak-shaded tract of land along Mobile Bay into a signature city park has been dealt a major setback after the USA Foundation agreed to sell 290 acres of former golf course property at Brookley to a private developer for $45 million.
The foundation, which manages real estate and investment assets on behalf of the University of South Alabama, announced the deal with 24/7 Development Partners of Alabama LLC last week. The land, long known as the site of the closed USA Gulf Pines Golf Course, sits next to the Brookley Aeroplex and has been eyed for years by park advocates who hoped it could become the anchor of a large, public green space along the bay.
Under the agreement, marketed as Brookley by the Bay, roughly 250 of the 290 acres will be sold for light industrial development. The property is covered in mature live oak trees draped in Spanish moss, features that supporters of a park plan had hoped to preserve as the centerpiece of a large public space open to the community.
For years, some Mobile residents and local leaders floated the idea of the city buying back the land from the USA Foundation, envisioning a bayside park that could rival other American cities’ signature green spaces. Proposals to fund a purchase using money from the BP oil spill settlement circulated as recently as a year ago, when the mayor’s office reportedly discussed a possible mix of cash and a land swap with the foundation. Those talks did not result in a deal, and city officials ultimately directed the bulk of the settlement funds toward other priorities, including garbage trucks and a roll-on, roll-off cargo facility at the Alabama State Docks, as well as other economic development projects.
The Brookley property has a long history tied to the university. The land came to the University of South Alabama in 1969 after the closure of Brookley Air Force Base, under then-university president Fred Whiddon. More than four decades later, in 2010, Whiddon’s successor, Gordon Moulton, oversaw the sale of the property to the USA Foundation for $20 million, with the proceeds going toward the expansion of USA’s Children’s & Women’s Hospital. The foundation has now more than doubled that investment with the sale to 24/7 Development Partners.
Despite the scale of the sale, foundation officials say the deal leaves room for at least a scaled-down public park. USA Foundation Managing Director Maxey Roberts said the foundation is not selling roughly 30 acres of wetlands and an additional 10 acres along the waterfront, which will be kept free of commercial development. Those acres could form the basis of a smaller, eco-friendly park along the bay. The developer has also agreed to leave wetlands and waterfront areas it does not own undeveloped, according to the foundation.
Exactly what form that public space will take remains unclear, and specifics on funding, design and a timeline have not been released. Advocates for bay access say even a modest park with a fishing pier and launch points for kayaks, canoes and paddleboards would represent a meaningful improvement for a city often described as land-locked despite sitting on one of the largest estuaries in the country.
Supporters of the original, larger vision for the property say they still hope city and university officials find ways to maximize public access to whatever waterfront and wetland acreage remains undeveloped, even as the bulk of the historic golf course tract moves toward industrial use.