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The development agreement includes a revitalized Haysland Square, 200 multifamily and 200 single family units, and a new 9-acre community green space featuring a pond and walking paths, pedestrian lighting, hardscape and landscape. The community space will be surrounded by retail and restaurants, and premier office space adjacent to Grissom High School.
SOUTH HUNTSVILLE – Huntsville City Council unanimously approved a development agreement for the Village at Hays Farm. The development agreement between the City of Huntsville and Hylis Inc, provides the South Huntsville community a new 9-acre community green space. The community park will feature a pond with walking paths, pedestrian lighting, hardscape and landscape. Surrounding the community green space will be a new mixed-use development, The Village at Hays Farm. The Village will include multi family, restaurants, retail and premier office space directly across from the New Grissom High School. On the other side of Haysland Road, over 500 single family residential units are planned in three subdivisions; The Forge, The Forrest and The Fields. The master plan for Hays Farm includes over 8 miles of greenway and a 540-acre nature preserve.
The Hays Farm development is a legacy project for the Hays Family. John Hays shared, “Our family has been a part of Huntsville’s growth for more than 100 years. This land has been cultivated for generations,” said Hays. “When we began to look at creating a master plan for this site we, along with City leaders and our partners at Urban Design Associates, realized the need to incorporate an urban event park which would serve as the “nexus” of South Huntsville. This park will serve as the heartbeat of South Huntsville for generations to come.”
The South Huntsville Main Market Study, released in June of 2019 showed a demand for more restaurants, specifically casual eateries, Italian food, and brew pubs. South Huntsville has a huge opportunity for women’s clothing, specialty gift shops and hobby stores, and much more. The Village at Hays Farm will meet the needs of our community, and create reinvestment all along South Memorial Parkway.
Shane Davis, Urban Development Director for the City of Huntsville explained the project is estimated to return 11.3 million dollars to the tax payer in the first three years alone. The land donation is an estimated 3 million dollars, and the City of Huntsville’s investment is 3.6 million. “The City is pleased to provide new infrastructure that will offer both outdoor recreation opportunities to the public and assist in providing new live, work, and shopping opportunities to our community.” said Davis.
Councilwoman Robinson has been working with Mayor Battle and the Hays family for many years to create the economic opportunity for a development of this scale to come to South Huntsville. The entire Hays Farm development is estimated to have a 450 million dollar economic impact on the Huntsville community. “I’ve often said this is the pebble in the pond and its ripples will be felt all along South Parkway,” said Councilwoman Robinson. “This has been a blighted area and this will be a great development for South Huntsville.”
“The 850-acre Hays Farm development provides South Huntsville much-needed retail, restaurant, muti-family and single-family homes,” said Bekah Schmidt, executive director for South Huntsville Main. “We look forward to seeing the development around the park begin to come out of the ground and meet the needs of our growing community. We want to thank the City of Huntsville for their investment, as well as the Hays family for their generosity.”