By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Shoppers likely will notice no changes at Alabaster’s Colonial Promenade shopping center after it was recently purchased by a Huntsville-based property management company.

According to Shelby County land transactions, the Huntsville-based Propst Properties company purchased the North Promenade from the Colonial Realty company for $37.4 million in late October.

“They are far enough along now that you can say it’s a done deal,” state Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, who is also the executive chairman of the Alabaster Industrial Development Board, said of the purchase.

As a result of the purchase, Propst Properties will take ownership of the entire North Promenade, which is north of U.S. 31 and includes tenants such as Old Navy, Walmart, Books-A-Million and the Amstar movie theater.

Ward said the North Promenade likely will retain its “Colonial Promenade” name, and said shoppers likely will not notice anything different. The South Promenade, which includes stores such as Target, Best Buy and JC Penny, will not change ownership.

“(Propst President) John Hughey was actually working for Colonial when they built that shopping center,” Ward said. “Shoppers will probably not be able to tell any difference.”

Alabaster officials previously said the pending change in ownership played a role in moving the city’s Christmas parade from the Promenade, where it was held in 2011, to U.S. 31, where it was held this year.