A view of the where the Chelsea Plaza will be built on U.S 280 in Chelsea.
On a dusty, overgrown hill across from Walgreens — a patch of red dirt, weeds and wild brush — Chelsea’s next chapter is about to rise.
Soon, that scruffy slope along U.S. 280 will give way to Chelsea Plaza: a $75 million mixed-use project with restaurants, shops and gathering space designed to become the city’s long-envisioned town center.
To some, it’s a sign that Chelsea is finally growing into itself. To others, it’s a flashing warning light that the city is growing too fast.
Photo by Malia Riggs.
Across from a Walgreens on U.S. 280 sits the spot that soon will become the $75 million Chelsea Plaza. An incentive package of up to $20 million from the city of Chelsea will help bring it to life and bring new businesses to town.
A VISION DECADES OLD
The Chelsea Plaza project comes at a pivotal moment for a city long defined by quiet neighborhoods, youth sports and the winding sprawl of U.S. 280. Now, as Chelsea inches toward its next phase of growth, the development has become a litmus test. How will the city shape its future? And who gets to decide what it looks like in one of Alabama’s fastest-growing communities?
The vision for Chelsea Plaza began decades ago with the community in mind. Developer Josh Fouladbakhsh said his father, Moiz Fouladbakhsh — a longtime builder and owner of Parade Home Builders — bought the property in the early 2000s with hopes of developing it one day.
To take the project from dream to development, Josh and Moiz created Bash & Co. LLC earlier this year — a new commercial venture distinct from their longtime residential business.
Chelsea Plaza, which will sit on roughly 14 acres, is expected to include about 70,000 square feet of retail space with a mix of local and national businesses. Josh said the plan includes room for “13 to 20 stores depending on square footage” and that they are in the lease negotiation phase now.
“This is not just your typical strip mall looking development from some big company in Dallas,” he said. “We’re not going to come in and make a really terrible strip center that no one is excited for.”
He emphasized their commitment to the local economy, noting that their engineers and contractors are all Birmingham-based.
“This is also money that’s going right back into the local economy,” he said.
CITY BACKS INCENTIVE PLAN
Map courtesy of Bash & Co. LLC.
A map of the proposed Chelsea Plaza shows retail space that is expected to contain 13 to 20 retail stores, depending upon the size of those contracted to locate here. That will include a mix of stores and restaurants as well as parking. Developers Josh and Moiz Fouladbakhsh, who live locally, say they intend to deliver a project that Chelsea residents will be proud to patronize. “This is not just your typical strip mall-looking development from some big company in Dallas,” Josh told 280 Living. “We’re not going to come in and make a really terrible strip center that no one is excited for.”
The Chelsea Plaza project is being funded through a mix of public and private sources totaling about $75 million, according to outgoing Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer. As part of the funding, the city has approved a performance-based incentive agreement with Bash & Co. LLC, capped at $20 million.
“We get five cents of sales tax,” Picklesimer said. “We will be refunding three cents of every dollar of sales tax that comes out of that development back to the development, with a cap of $20 million. This incentive is based on their performance and should pay out in as early as 12 or 13 years. This development will be here for 50 years or more. So any time we can offer an incentive that will be paid back in less than 15 years for a development this big, of this magnitude, is an excellent investment for the City of Chelsea.”
The incentive agreement was unanimously approved by the Chelsea City Council on June 17.
Councilman Cody Sumners, who was elected as the new mayor in the Aug. 26 municipal election to succeed Picklesimer, said the project aligns with the city’s push to support local spending.
“This will provide our citizens with more opportunities to ‘shop local’ and keep Chelsea tax dollars in Chelsea,” Sumners said.
Photo by Malia Riggs.
As more businesses pop up along U.S. 280, the green spaces in Chelsea will convert to more signs, more traffic and more tax dollars. The city has experienced spectacular growth over the last 15 years, but some residents are concerned that the addition of developments like Chelsea Plaza and others could outpace the city’s infrastructure, resulting in a lower quality of life for residents.
DEBATE OVER CITY GROWTH
Not everyone shares the same sentiment.
Mike Rochester, the opposing Chelsea mayoral candidate and former president of the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce, voiced concerns about the scope and planning behind Chelsea Plaza. While he says he is not against development, Rochester questioned whether the city’s current approach is too reactive.
“I think that we have a mentality in city government right now to chase a revenue dollar without any real thought about how it’s going to affect the infrastructure and the way of life for the people in the community,” Rochester said. “I think this just needed to be vetted a lot harder. We don’t need a glorified strip shopping center that’s not going to help the City of Chelsea.”
Rochester said the project activated his business “spidey senses,” and he believes it highlights the need for more measured, long-term thinking about growth, infrastructure and the character of the community.
As plans move forward, Chelsea Plaza stands as both a symbol of opportunity and a point of debate over the city’s future. Whether viewed as a catalyst for growth or a cautionary tale about rapid development, the $75 million project has undeniably sparked conversation about what Chelsea should look like in the years ahead.
In the coming months, residents will watch as the vision begins to take shape on the hill across from Walgreens — knowing its success, or shortcomings, could help define the next chapter in Chelsea’s story.
