Owner: Grocery store planned for shopping center
Sep. 25—A city councilman is concerned about how slowly renovations of the former Westgate Shopping Center on West Moulton Street are going 17 months after it got a new owner, but the owner and a tenant say progress is being made.
Wadeea Alwajih purchased the Westgate shopping center on West Moulton Street in February 2021 and renamed it King's Plaza. Seven undeveloped acres to the east of the complex came with the deal.
Alwajih said he plans to open a 60,000-square-foot grocery store adjacent to the complex but isn't ready to commit to a time frame.
"My plans are for a nice supermarket for this neighborhood," said Alwajih, who is a native of Yemen, former business owner in Huntsville, and now lives in Decatur. "These people who live around here have to go to the other side of town to buy groceries."
Alwajih, who goes by Wade, said he plans to build a large building and "prospective grocery stores will contact us about it."
"Next year, we will start planning to see what we can do with a building on that land," he said. "Maybe I can put some more store units or apartment buildings next to the supermarket. I want more businesses that will drive more traffic here and make it more convenient for the people who live here."
Billy Jackson, District 1 city councilman whose district includes the complex, said he is not ready to get excited about Alwajih's plans just yet.
"If he's going to do a grocery store there, it will be a truly welcome addition to this community," Jackson said. "A grocery store is one of the greatest needs in this community, especially since Lucky's was taken away from the community. It will help fill the void.
"But seeing is believing. (Alwajih) has been talking about this for a while. We were led to believe his progress was going to be immediate. We were expecting that we were going to see things move on that project. I want to see more things happening before we get really optimistic at this point. But I'm looking forward to whatever he brings to the community."
Lucky's on Sixth Avenue was the nearest grocery store to the community and it closed in September 2019.
Alwajih said the pandemic and labor shortage have made it difficult for him to find contractors to do his desired improvements.
"We have done a lot of renovations here already, but getting contractors and supplies has been difficult," he said. "Contractors are so busy. Sometimes they do some work and hold you for a couple of months before they come back. We're struggling with that a lot."
The shopping center has been repainted, roof repaired, awnings replaced and painted and security lights added since Alwajih took ownership. He has opened Wadeea Novelty Wholesale in the former Stock N Save store location. The store sells items such as car phone chargers in bulk to small business owners.
"You must own a business license to shop there," he said. "Business has been good."
Next door is an 11,000-square-foot unit that will sell new shelving and glass display cases for businesses. He said Wade's Fixtures should open by the end of the month.
He said his plans for a restaurant featuring Middle Eastern and American cuisine is the next project he is tackling. He would put it in a former appliance rental building on the west end of the complex, but the building needs city inspectors' approval and architect's design plans, Alwajih said.
"As soon as the city approves it, we will work on it and in maybe six or seven months, we'll have it open," he said. "The city has been good to work with on everything we have. I already have a person signing a contract for a restaurant there."
Jackson said the building once housed a KFC restaurant.
"(The restaurant) will bring some traffic to the area which customarily wouldn't come to the community. That will be good as well," Jackson said.
Currently, King's Plaza has four vacant, ready-to-lease units. Alwajih said the units are about 1,000-square-feet each and will rent for about $1,000 a month.
He said they will be a good size for offices for attorneys, tax accountants, insurance companies and maybe a cellphone business.
A church and barbershop already call the west side of the center home.
On the east side of the center, AAA Pawn continues to be a staple. Shop owner Randy Campbell said Alwajih has made "significant improvements" to the center.
"He's upgraded the whole property," Campbell said. "He's putting money into it, fixing the issues we've had like a leaky roof. ... We need stuff over here in the Northwest. The city forgets about us sometimes. He has put in parking lot lights and security lights outside. I'm having a lot of customer comment on how good the property looks. Some who haven't been in here in a while are giving positive comments about the plaza. It's good for business. We couldn't ask for a better landlord."
Crystal Brown, president and CEO of the Decatur Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, said she has noticed the renovations at the shopping center.
"We're celebrating the improvements, for sure," she said. "That area sat stagnant for many years and any improvement has been good. We've been concerned about having a grocery store locate there. It is much needed. There is a high density of population in that area and having one in close proximity to those residents is important. The residents who have travel issues will be able to walk to the store. ... We appreciate his investment in the area and look forward to more improvements."
The Alabama Department of Transportation said about 15,000 vehicles travel on West Moulton Street daily.
— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.
