Tuscaloosa's McFarland Mall Project On Hold For Confidential Deal

A Tuscaloosa businessman's ambitious redevelopment of the now-vacant McFarland Mall property is on hold as he pursues a still top-secret opportunity for a large portion of the space.

Real estate developer Stan Pate appeared before the Tuscaloosa City Council's Finance Committee on Tuesday to request an amendment to the incentives package that elected officials approved last year for the massive undertaking, called Project Encore.

The agreement would rebate all taxes generated by businesses on the former mall site for about 25 years, or until Pate has been repaid more than $65 million, except those that fund schools - those are still collected.

Since the incentive was approved, excitement has been growing about what Pate can bring to the McFarland Mall site, but no updates have been made public since the vote in May 2024.

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Pate explained part of the reason on Tuesday, when he asked for the incentives deal to be amended and said he was trying to land a generational tenant for a 20-acre segment of the larger Project Encore.

Pate and the council merely referred to this new secretive pursuit as Project X.

"We put the project on hold over Project X - they're going to bite off 20 acres or so of the site," he told the committee.

Although he said most city officials have been privately briefed on this big fish, none of the details can be discussed publicly yet.

"Project X is highly confidential - this particular user made it very clear that if their name came out, they're not coming, but y'all certainly have the privilege of knowing who it is," Pate said. "And we can't do Project X without this amendment."

Tuscaloosa Mayor Maddox, without providing details, said this possibility was not discussed when these incentives were approved last summer.

"As this council is aware of through the negotiations, this is an opportunity that frankly I don't know if it was on the radar 17 or 18 months ago, that is on the radar today," Maddox said.

The committee does not have the final say in granting the requested amendment, but voted to send it to the full seven-member city council when it next meets in January.

If granted, Pate will have a 5-year window to close the deal and initiate a 30-year period during which taxes generated on the site would be repaid to him. The amendment would also remove the $65 million cap on rebates the council set last year, allowing Pate to exceed that amount if the users he attracts are profitable enough.

But for that incentive, Pate would take extreme risks, he said.

"Project X will take a few years to get completed from the day they say we're ready - there's $15 million worth of site work, $20 million of property they want for free, and they want a bunch of money," Pate said. "But I'm willing to take that risk."

The Project Encore McFarland Mall redevelopment is about to get going, no matter what, Pate said. But with the council's blessing, these 20 acres on that property will be held in reserve for at least five years for this still-secret tenant.

The council could vote on this amendment to the incentive package on January 6th.

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