Tuscaloosa’s Cypress Inn Listed by World’s Largest Commercial Real Estate Firm

A beloved restaurant with one of the best views in Tuscaloosa has been listed for sale or lease by new agents with the largest firm of its kind.

The Cypress Inn, a jewel on the northern bank of the Black Warrior River, permanently closed in 2019, 35 years after the legendary Drew Henson first opened it.

There was talk in 2019 about reopening the same year as a new concept, but that didn't get off the ground and the COVID pandemic's arrival the next year guaranteed the building stayed vacant.

New owners bought the property in 2023 and hoped to find restaurant operators to take over the space, but that also never materialized.

Get our free mobile app

Now, the 16,600-square-foot property on Rice Mine Road has been listed for sale by CBRE Group, Inc., which bills itself as the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm.

Shannon Tyndall and Jake Parker from their Birmingham office will market the property, which boasts 1,000 linear feet of river frontage and a 4,000-square-foot pavilion and events space.

"We are excited to bring this great opportunity to the market for sale or lease,” said Jake Parker, an Associate at CBRE. "Cypress Inn spent decades as one of the most popular restaurants in the Tuscaloosa community. We are looking forward to finding the perfect operator, developer, or buyer to revitalize this unique waterfront property. Given that the Sports Illustrated Resort is landing adjacent to the property and the new Tiger Wood’s PopStroke is right down the road, we are excited to add to growth of the area and bring new life to the Cypress Inn Property.

Their Tuesday press release said the right owner or lessee could open another restaurant there, make it an innovative retail space or redevelop the site entirely.

The Rice Mine Road site is minutes from the University of Alabama but on the quieter northern side of the river.

According to CBRE, there are more than 2,500 households within a mile of the Cypress Inn property and their average income is $105,920.