The details emerged a bit more clearly on the giant development in south Huntsville as the city council approved $3.6 million to build a public “open space” amid the mixed-use project.

The Hays Farm – promising a development of hundreds of single-family homes as well as retail and multi-family facilities on land located behind Home Depot – will also have a nine-acre park funded by the city touted as a "gathering place" for the community.

The project includes the largely vacant shopping center fronting Memorial Parkway where Staples is located and stretches to the west along Haysland Road.

The land immediately behind Home Depot will be the center of commerce for the development and will be the site of the city park constructed on land donated to the city around the detention pond that will be created by the nature of the construction site.

"I continue to say pebble in the pond," said councilwoman Jennie Robinson, whose district includes the 850-acre Hays Farm development. "The ripples are going to be felt all along the south Parkway. This has been a blighted area. And the city's contribution to this will be very important in not making a good development but a great development. It's going to create that wow factor."

While the Hays family announced the project last year, more specifics emerged through the contract with the city. The development will include:

200,000 square feet of new retail

50,000 square feet of office space

200 multi-family units

200 single-family lots.

The development will also be built over several phases with a completion target date of Dec. 31, 2025.

A sign at the Hays Farm indicates plans for a new grocery-anchored retail center on the site of a largely vacant shopping center at Haysland Square.

The city is expecting an economic windfall from the development through sales and property taxes. According to city projections presented to the council, $2.7 million annually are expected to be received in sales taxes and $175,000 annually in property taxes. Sales taxes on the construction project alone are forecast to generate $2.6 million.

Mayor Tommy Battle said that the city will recoup its investment in the "open space" area almost immediately and the donated land itself was valued at $3 million.

"We're talking about investment in your community and return on investment," Battle said.

In his presentation to the council, Shane Davis, the city’s director of urban and economic development, said that clauses included in the contract protect the city financially. Developers must begin construction on at least 15,000 square feet of retail, 25,000 square feet of office space and 100 multi-family units in the area adjacent to the city “open space” before the city begins its investment.

The city could also recover up to $1.8 million if developers fail to complete at least 50 percent of the overall development’s square footage by the end of 2025.

A view of plans for the Hays Farm development in south Huntsville.

While funding for the park passed unanimously, councilwoman Frances Akridge said she was skeptical of the projected return on investment – repeatedly describing it as "speculative" – and asked why the city was making an investment in an area it has already made extensive investments.

Grissom High School relocated to land owned by the Hays family that's adjacent to the new development and the city built Haysland Road to access the school and is in the process of extending it to Redstone Road.

"Why are we investing in a site where we've already moved a school to, we've already improved roads to, there are neighbors moving in to be closer to the arsenal because of the FBI," Akridge said. "How much incentive and participation do we need to do to revitalize your neighborhoods? I don’t like the veil of marketing talk about it being … it could easily become the gathering place without $3.6 million worth of improvements there. It's just baffling to me."

Akridge also said that supporters shouldn't be fooled by the prospect of a park around the detention pond because that pond would be dug anyway. In his presentation, Shane Davis, the city's director of urban and economic development, said that the pond in Big Spring Park was originally built as a detention pond.

"The citizens that have spoken tonight understand this project," Robinson said in response to Akridge's concerns. "They are very involved in that community. They know this is more than a detention pond. They know this is not a favor to this developer. It might lie in that we haven't really explained the vision of what this could be. This is more than a detention pond."

Council President Devyn Keith later said he understood Akridge's perspective and said he would be more inclined to agree with her if not for the reputation of the Hays family – who are developers by trade – within Huntsville and their track record for success.

“The family has been in this community over 100 years,” Davis said. “I can’t even come to terms to how many developments they have done throughout the city. They have a great track record in our community. They are developers who love Huntsville. They have shown that.”