Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart Jr. laid out a sweeping vision this week for transforming downtown and a roughly 5.1-mile stretch of the city reaching toward the Cahaba River, but the rollout immediately ran into a snag: several council members said they hadn't even seen the full proposal before being asked to discuss it.
The plan, dubbed Rails to River, was unveiled Wednesday at an Irondale City Council meeting, according to WBMA. Stewart described a corridor running from the railroad crossing on 1st Avenue North, along Grants Mill Road, out to the Cahaba River, envisioning everything from restaurants, coffee shops and bookstores to condominiums, housing and public gathering spaces woven in with redevelopment of city-owned properties, per the same report.
A $150,000 Planning Contract Still Missing Paperwork
To get there, Irondale is weighing a $150,000 agreement with Tessa Commercial Real Estate to map out a redevelopment strategy, working out to roughly $12,500 a month over a 12-month planning process, the station reports. The proposed scope includes market analysis of financially feasible development, architectural concepts and renderings, recommendations for city-owned downtown properties, and coordination with architects, engineers and planning professionals, according to the outlet's reporting. The plan would also allow for up to two city-coordinated meetings per month and two community planning workshops so residents and business owners can weigh in.
But the consulting agreement wasn't part of the original published agenda — it was introduced at the Nov. 4 meeting itself, the station notes. That left several council members saying they hadn't received the full proposal or supporting documents before being asked to discuss it. Council member John London put it bluntly, saying he lacked enough information to evaluate the proposal, per WBMA's account.
Council Gives Preliminary Nod, Withholds Final Sign-Off
Stewart told the council it would receive the complete agreement and proposal to review, and he initially said he would bring the agreement back at the next meeting for a vote, the station reports. Instead, the council added Resolution 2026-R-262 to its consent agenda, granting preliminary authorization for the proposed consulting arrangement, and approved that consent agenda the same night. That resolution does not amount to final approval of a fully executed $150,000 contract — the proposed agreement still requires further council review once the documents are available, according to WBMA.
Tessa Commercial Real Estate founder and CEO Meredith Calhoun said the planning process is meant to produce a realistic strategy rather than just attractive designs, per the station's reporting. The firm's planning team would evaluate which existing properties could be reused versus which might need demolition or redevelopment, and examine market conditions to determine which businesses and developments could actually succeed in Irondale. Libby Lassiter, a Tessa principal and former president of Bayer Properties, would help lead the planning process; Stewart pointed to her experience with Birmingham's Summit shopping center as a credential, the outlet reports.
Facilities Moves Already Underway Ahead of the Bigger Vision
Stewart framed Rails to River as the second phase of a broader push to modernize city facilities and spur economic growth, and said existing downtown municipal properties would be folded into a coordinated redevelopment strategy rather than sitting vacant, according to WBMA. Irondale has identified a new location for its police department, purchased property for a future administration building, and secured a site on Ruffner Road for a new public works facility, the station reports — and the police department relocation project could go out for bids within weeks. The mayor's $1 billion investment goal has been part of the city's pitch before: at the August launch of Irondale's Community Guide, Stewart said the city was aiming to attract $1 billion in public and private investment by 2033 and was already about a third of the way there, with seven years left on the clock, according to the Pell City Podcast. That same report noted a ribbon cutting was set for August 25 on a roughly $90 million Costco development.
Irondale's property moves aren't limited to Rails to River. The city separately acquired a 2.01-acre lot along Crestwood Boulevard for more than $1 million, with city hall planned for the site, according to the Birmingham Business Journal. That followed an earlier downtown shakeup in which the city considered an entertainment district mixing dining, housing and breweries, and paid $2.7 million for two buildings on Crestwood Boulevard, according to a separate WBMA report on that project.
What Still Isn't Decided
City officials have not announced a total construction budget for Rails to River, have not identified private developers, and have not established a timeline for when any redevelopment projects could begin, per WBMA. It also remains undetermined which existing downtown buildings would be preserved, demolished, sold or converted to new uses. The planning process is expected to include opportunities for residents and business owners to provide input, but the next concrete step is council review of the complete consulting agreement, followed by development of an actual plan for the proposed transformation.
The broader corridor concept echoes other redevelopment activity already taking shape near Irondale. Along Grants Mill Road, StoneRiver Company has said it began site work on The Current at Grants Mill, a Class-A multifamily development on 48 acres overlooking land that leads toward the Cahaba River, according to StoneRiver Company. And in Birmingham, the $36.4 million Urban Supply project has reworked two blocks of historic warehouses into interconnected passages, patios and storefronts — including a central walkway called The Aisle — spanning more than 73,000 square feet across six properties, per Urban Land Magazine. Whether Irondale's own vision reaches that scale will depend on the paperwork the council is still waiting to see.
