Construction has begun on Fairhope’s first Starbucks, which has some residents excited while others are not.

The Starbucks site is in what some might see as the parking lot of the Eastern Shore Village Center. The shopping center is home to several businesses that range from pizza and doughnuts to haircuts and sneakers. The shopping center is on U.S. Hwy 98.

The project has been a hot topic in social media groups and comment sections for nearly two years.

The project was brought before the Fairhope Planning Commission on March 7, 2022. At the meeting, details were discussed, issues were hammered out, and staff recommendations were made. The planning commission voted unanimously in favor of recommending approval of the site subject to staff recommendations and the applicant adding acceptable landscape features to the current shopping center.

The staff recommendations included:

• A Shared Parking Agreement shall be executed before issuance of the build;
• Tree removal permits and fees shall be provided at the time of the building permit;
• A sign plan shall be submitted via Citizen Serve to Code Enforcement for review and approval; and
• Electric services shall be coordinated at the time of permitting.

In October 2023, during a Fairhope City Council meeting, Hunter Simmons, City of Fairhope Planning and Zoning manager, presented the council with a site plan extension request for the Starbucks project. The request was for a one-year extension.

Simmons explained to council that the Big Lots Shopping Center agreement states no construction projects could operate during the holiday season within the parking lot. The developers of the project did not want to pull building permits and get delayed. The council approved the extension request.

Crews broke ground on the Starbucks project at the end of March. If the timeline of the new Daphne Starbucks, located next to Chipotle Mexican Grille is any indication, Fairhope could have a Starbucks by the end of the year.