[Blazer85]

Looks like the Montelena project is being scrapped...

Developer puts Montelena condo project on hold
A developer says it has frozen plans for the $50 million Montelena condominum project off U.S. 280 between Mountain Brook and Homewood.

Signs have been removed from the site for the planned seven-story building, and the sales office has been relocated. Construction was supposed to have started in October.

"Montelena, as it existed as just a luxury condominum offering 57 units, is on hold right now," said David Fowler, a partner with Inkana Development. "The sales were not as successful as we had hoped and needed."

Fowler said sales contracts for the project's condos have been canceled.

He said the area's condo market has slowed and "we didn't see the market getting any better soon." The landowners, he said, want to research other options for the site that would generate income.

Inkana had been working with the property's owners, the Mazer family, to develop the 120,000-square-foot project where the former PT's Sports Grill, Mexico Lindo and Coffee Shoppe restaurants stood. Developers planned to use 7,000 square feet of space on the ground floor for boutique retailers.

Charles R. McCauley