Developers Share Plans for Sports Illustrated Resort in Tuscaloosa

Almost a year after plans were announced for a first-of-its-kind Sports Illustrated resort in Tuscaloosa, developers presented plans for its 9-story, 137-key hotel, 150 condos and 250 timeshare units.

On Wednesday evening, representatives for Sports Illustrated, the Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Travel & Leisure and TTL, Inc. shared renderings of the proposed resort for the first time during a meeting of the city's Riverfront Advisory Commission.

That body does not cast a vote in favor of or opposing the development it considers, but simply offers comment about such plans, voicing suggestions and concerns before developers appear before the Planning & Zoning Commission and the Tuscaloosa City Council.

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The resort would be on currently undeveloped land near the Randall Family Park & Trailhead, between the two ramps onto McFarland Boulevard from Rice Mine Road.

Sports Illustrated already operates a lifestyle resort in the Dominican Republic and has others planned, but Tuscaloosa will be their first centered on college sports.

Huntsville native and UA graduate Austin Bolton, who said he oversees University and Community Partnerships for Sports Illustrated Resorts, told the committee that choosing the Druid City was simple.

"So why Alabama? The University of Alabama, as you all know, has a rich athletic history across all sports. There is no city more passionate and supportive of their university athletics quite like Tuscaloosa," he said. "So when it came time to choose where we wanted to launch Sports Illustrated Resorts, the choice was obvious. We could not have picked a better city, University and community for our flagship resort."

The plans call for two phases of construction, first erecting the nine-level hotel and its restaurant. one timeshare and condo building, plus three standalone retail buildings.

Phase two would include four additional multistory buildings with timeshares below and condos for sale above.

The developers said they want to begin construction in the first quarter of 2025 with completion no later later than the first quarter of 2027.

Elias Vavaroutsos, a principal at the Lamar Johnson Collaborative, said their designs have been made with great care to ensure the resort buildings, featuring brick and metal accents, come together to fit well with the existing aesthetics of the city and the University of Alabama.

Four of the committee's five members attended the Wednesday meeting and voiced some concerns about the resort - specifically about how it will impact traffic, connectivity to the city's Northern Riverwalk and what protections are in place to ensure the condos don't become a new student mega-housing complex.

They also worried about a new, large-scale hotel adding 137 keys of supply to a market seeing increasing demand - lodging tax revenue is down in 2024.

The SI team will take their notes from the committee and appear again later before the planning and zoning commission before ultimately seeking city council approval for the project.

For more updates on the Sports Illustrated Resort as its development continues, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.