EDITOR’S NOTE: As part of an ongoing partnership with our friends at Right Space Commercial, Tuscaloosa Patch will be highlighting the firm’s properties and the big things they’re doing around town.
NORTHPORT, AL — This installment of our Right Space Commercial Property Spotlight focuses on Northport’s Vestavia Plaza, which recently received a major face-lift, in part, thanks to the city’s Facade Improvement Program.
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Located in the 700 block of McFarland Boulevard, the shopping center was first built, according to available records, in 1988.
It was then acquired by Right Space Commercial in October 2021 after falling into visible disrepair.
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“We bought that shopping center when it was in pretty rough shape,” Right Space Commercial owner and broker Richard Henry recalled, before mentioning the Northport Facade Improvement Program. “We applied [for the program] and were able to get that and we were in the higher bracket.”
The program was first announced in April 2021, as Patch previously reported, and was made possible with an initial allocation of $350,000 from the city’s Northport First Funds — revenue generated by the city’s 1-cent sales tax.
Henry said Right Space Commercial committed $150,000 to improvements for Vestavia Plaza and, as a result, qualified for an additional $20,000 from the program.
As Patch previously reported, the program is administered by the Northport Redevelopment Authority and provides a base grant of up to $10,000 or a base grant amount of $10,000 plus a match grant dollar-for-dollar for investment on the part of the property owner — up to $10,000.
Total funding per project is capped at $25,000.
“I’ll give them credit,” Henry said. “They put their money where their mouth was and it spurred some redevelopment. “We were able to invest in it, then find new tenants and bring in some services over there. It just improves the whole area.”
Indeed, the building now sports a new roof, a fresh coat of paint on its exterior and a resurfaced parking lot.
Here’s a look at before and after photos of the property:
Before
AFTER
Here’s a list of the tenants currently set up at Vestavia Plaza:
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