By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Summer Classics furniture company will have a few more weeks to inspect the former Moore Handley building in Pelham after the city agreed to extend the closing date until late July.

The Pelham City Council voted during its July 1 meeting to give Summer Classics until July 24 to inspect the building, and until July 31 to sign off on the deal to purchase the building.

Summer Classics originally had until the end of June to inspect the building, and until early July to sign the purchase agreement. However, the company had a delay with getting power turned on to the building, and was unable to inspect some equipment in the building last month as a result.

“They didn’t have the power on until yesterday,” Pelham City Council President Rick Hayes said on July 2. “We talked with (building’s current owner) HHH (Acquisition), and they were OK with it.

“Everybody is in agreement that this will be the only extension,” Hayes added. “In total, they will have about three-and-a-half more weeks.”

On May 21, the council voted to purchase the 30-acre property from the HHH Acquisition company and sell 17 acres to Summer Classics.

Through the agreement, Pelham will loan Summer Classics $3.275 million to purchase the 17 acres. Summer Classics will make mortgage payments to the city to pay the amount back. A portion of the $3.275 million loan will be provided by Shelby County and the county’s Industrial Development Authority.

The Shelby County Commission voted in early June to provide $1 million to cover its portion of the loan.

The plan calls for Summer Classics to occupy the entire former Moore Handley building and warehouse, and construct a 10,000-square-foot showroom on the front of the building.

The proposed plan also calls for a 9,000-square-foot possible retail outparcel to be constructed between U.S. 31 and the former Moore Handley building and an 18,000-square-foot strip mall-type development to be constructed slightly southeast of the former Moore Handley building.

Pelham is working with the Retail Strategies consulting firm to attract developers and retailers for the outparcels. The council is looking to sell the outparcel properties to developers within the next 12 months, according to Hayes.