Council approves downtown projects; Plans include upgrades to Kress building and demolishing building for new bank

The former S.H. Kress building at University Boulevard and 23rd Avenue downtown houses the Pants Store and once housed Spiller Furniture. Planned renovations include an external staircase for six planned condominium units.

Plans for a new downtown Cadence Bank and upgrades to the Kress building's exterior have been unanimously approved by the Tuscaloosa City Council.

Both came before the City Council on Tuesday. Under the guidelines of the Downtown Riverfront Overlay District, the council is required to sign off on development projects within a predefined area of downtown.

For the new Cadence Bank, planned for 2020 University Blvd., developers intend to demolish the existing building that once housed the Ray, Oliver and Ward law firm and construct a two-story bank and office building in its place.

Also planned for the site is a detached building for drive-through services and 23 parking spaces.

The bank, which now operates downtown at 1101 Greensboro Ave., would relocate to the new building once it's finished and complete the sale of its current location.

Eric Heslop, Cadence's city president for Tuscaloosa, said some contingencies remain on finalizing the contract for the law office, but if all goes according to plan, he expects the closing on the new land to be completed by the end of the year.

Construction, Heslop said, should be complete by early summer 2015, but it remains too early to know the total overall investment Cadence Bank plans to make to prepare and construct in new location.

We're super excited about the new site, said Heslop. We get to keep our downtown presence, but for us it's a much more efficient use of space.

John McConnell, director of the city's Planning and Development Services, said that the bank's initial plans for an entrance and exit on University Boulevard was rejected by the Office of the City Engineer, but later added once the city and developers agreed to limit the University Boulevard entrance and exit to right turns only.

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Council approves downtown projects; Plans include upgrades to Kress building and demolishing building for new bank