Kip Tyner: New convenience store and food court a sign of Alberta's rebirth (original) (raw)

The Thursday groundbreaking ceremony for a new convenience store in Alberta has been 24 years in the making for Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner.

Tyner, who represents Alberta as part of District 5, said welcoming new businesses to this area is part of what inspired him to first seek elected office.

And now, with a new $2.6 million gas station and food court under construction on University Boulevard at Alberta Drive, his vision for a reborn Alberta is taking shape.

“The only reason I ran for the City Council in 1997 was for days like this,” Tyner said to the 100 or so people who had gathered for the ceremonial turning of dirt that officially kicked off the store's construction.

Ric Mayers, president of Midstates Petroleum Co. of Vernon, said the 6,000-square-foot facility will feature not only the basic convenience store amenities, but also a frozen yogurt shop, barbecue plate lunches, fried chicken and pizza from Hunt Brothers Pizza.

It’s also going to house Alberta’s first Dunkin’ doughnut shop.

“When you come to Alberta, you’ve got to come with your A-game. Come with anything less, it’s going to be a rough road for you,” Mayers said.

Mayers and Midstates Petroleum already has made a significant investment in the Tuscaloosa and West Alabama areas.

Last year, the company purchased Powell Petroleum and its Buddy's Food Mart stores, a staple of Tuscaloosa's roadways since the 1970s.

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Weeks later, it also purchased Northport-based Trademart Inc., taking control of the five stores this company operated in Tuscaloosa and Northport.

Now, he's bringing to Alberta the state of Alabama’s first ExtraMile brand of convenience store, which is now at about 1,500 Chevron stations nationwide, and will feature Tuscaloosa’s first electric vehicle charging stations at a convenience store.

“I think that anytime that a businessman looks to bring something to an area, they’re looking to provide a service that’s lacking,” Mayers said. “I wanted to go beyond basic stuff, and the difference between good and great is attention to detail.”

And it’s that attention to detail that led Tyner to support the request from Midstates Petroleum for some economic aid to make the project a reality.

When the City Council passed the Invest Tuscaloosa policies to guide how it would incentivize new developments, it did so with a focus on removing blight, stimulating private investment and enhancing an area’s quality of life by attracting services it is currently missing.

With that, the council last month used the Invest Tuscaloosa recommendations to approve up to $275,000 in sales tax rebates – 100% of sales tax rebates the first two years; 50% the next four – over a six-year period.

“This is what Invest Tuscaloosa was for, because we knew (tornado) disaster recovery money would run out one day,” Tyner said. “This is blight caused by nature. It’s not blight caused by someone who owns the property.”

So, with Alberta “held hostage,” the councilman said, by property owners asking exorbitant sums for their parcels, Tyner said he was in full support of the economic aid for Alberta and Alabama’s first ExtraMile station.

And that’s because, in part, Tyner sees it as the beginning of a new trend of private investment in Alberta.

Tyner told of growing up in Alberta alongside the operation of two movie theaters, the city’s second indoor shopping mall and the first locations of several name-brand restaurants, like IHOP, Arby’s and Hardee’s.

But the ensuing decades saw these businesses leave for newer parts of town, with their return looking more and more unlikely until the April 27, 2011, tornado wiped the area clean.

Now, empty lots stand ready for rebuilding, and Tyner said he’s anticipating a return to Alberta’s heyday.

“If somebody came to Tuscaloosa to do business, they started in Alberta,” Tyner said. “And that’s my dream – it’s been my dream for so long – to see that return, and I do believe we can return even better.”

Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com.