Stan Pate Makes Pitch For $65.1M Incentives Package For McFarland Mall Property Project

TUSCALOOSA, AL - Tuscaloosa developer Stan Pate made his pitch for the future of the McFarland Mall property to the Tuscaloosa City Council's Finance Committee Tuesday as city leaders mull a $65.1 million incentives package for the project.

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As Patch previously reported, the project is dubbed "Encore" by Pate as a nod to his previous success with the Midtown Village development.

Pate is requesting the incentives in the form of tax abatements, with the City of Tuscaloosa not having to put up its own money or bond issuances.

Robert Amason, of Amason & Associates, will serve as the general contractor on the project if the incentives package is approved, with Pate saying all of the professional services for the effort will come from local firms.

Pate on Tuesday said he intends to bring five or six restaurants to the site, a hotel and at least one major retailer, with the developer mentioning he is in talks with three companies at present that are well-known brands.

"When I bought the property, it was the best property in this community, it's just a matter of how to make it reach its full potential," he said.

City Attorney Scott Holmes mentioned that the package would be the largest of its kind for the city, before saying the terms of the proposed package would last until the $65.1 million in sales tax revenue is generated by businesses on the site or by 2048, whichever comes first.

Holmes also listed prohibited types of business for the site, ranging from payday lenders to group homes and vape shops.

Pate went on to say that the Encore project would generate more than $8 million in sale tax revenue for the city, along with seeing close to 2,000 jobs created in an area of prime real estate right off of the interstate. As Patch previously reported, the property also sits in the shadow of a bridge recently renamed in honor of Pate's father.

"All you have to do as an example is look down to Exit 71 and look at the Lowes quadrant and look at the movie theater," he said. "We went with a blank sheet of paper there. ... Exit 73 is a much better site than Exit 71. The amount of interest in [Exit] 73 over the years has been phenomenal. The real estate business is better today than its ever been, that's the good news. The bad news is, it can't last forever, so we can't miss this opportunity."

Pate explained that confidentiality agreements with the three potential retailers prohibit him from revealing too many details at this point in the negotiations, but did say one of the retailers would take up an eye-popping 20 acres of the roughly 30-acre site, which would leave little space for the other two potential retailers.

He then said one of the other retailers would occupy roughly 20 acres, while the other would be about 75% of that retailer's size. Pate also mentioned that Starbucks had shown interest in opening a new location on the site.

What appears to set this incarnation of the Encore project apart from those in the past is the support and expressed excitement from city leaders, especially Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, who described its potential as a possible game-changer for the entire city.

"We talked earlier about the amphitheater and that was a domino that needed to fall that created so much progress," Maddox said. "I see this as a domino."

The incentives package will now be considered by the full Council after a public notice is published for seven days. Ideally, Holmes said a full vote from the Council could come during the council's regular meeting on May 7.

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