Millbrook spotlights new restaurants, hotel plans in growing business pipeline

What Millbrook is promising now

Millbrook’s latest business push is moving from talk to dirt work. Big Mikes Steakhouse is already under construction in the former WELCOME Food Pantry building downtown, and the city says the restaurant is aiming for an early-fall opening. At the same time, city materials say Baumhower’s Victory Grille is planned for The Marketplace at 17 Springs this fall, with a Fairfield Inn also being planned there.

That mix matters because it points to the kind of growth Millbrook is trying to buy with public attention and private investment: more places to eat, more rooms for visitors, and more spending that stays in town. The city’s Economic Development Department says its mission is to attract, retain and expand employment opportunities while stimulating the local economy and expanding the sales and property tax base, which is why restaurant and hotel announcements carry more weight than simple ribbon-cutting language.

Downtown’s near-term change

Big Mikes is the most immediate change residents can see. The city says construction has started in Downtown Millbrook, and the location itself, a former food pantry building, signals a reuse of an existing site rather than a greenfield build that would push development farther out. If the early-fall target holds, downtown could gain a new dinner-hour draw within the next several months, which is the kind of change that can help after-hours foot traffic and neighboring businesses that depend on people lingering nearby.

That is the practical story here: a downtown steakhouse is not just another restaurant listing, it can change the rhythm of a small business district. More evening traffic can mean more pressure on parking and turning movements, but it can also mean more sales-tax activity and a stronger case for keeping downtown active after the workday ends. In a city that has grown steadily for decades, those details are the difference between a promotional announcement and a measurable economic shift.

17 Springs is becoming the city’s second dining and lodging hub

The bigger pipeline is at 17 Springs, where the Marketplace is being built as a dining, hospitality, shopping and entertainment district. The project began in 2017 through overlapping conversations involving the City of Millbrook, Grandview Family YMCA, the Elmore County Board of Education, the Elmore County Economic Development Authority and the Elmore County Commission, and the 17 Springs name comes from a historic art festival once hosted on the YMCA property. The district is divided into The Fields at 17 Springs, The Fieldhouse at 17 Springs and The Marketplace at 17 Springs.

Baumhower’s is the marquee tenant in that next phase. In October 2025, Millbrook City Council unanimously approved the site development plan, and that report said Baumhower’s would be the first business to break ground at The Marketplace. It also identified the Millbrook location as an 8,800-square-foot prototype, the largest Baumhower’s ever built, with completion then anticipated for summer 2026. City postings now say the restaurant plans to open this fall and will feature more than 70 large-screen TVs plus a cutting-edge audio system, which makes the project sound less like a standard family restaurant and more like a sports-viewing anchor for the district.

That detail is important because it tells residents what kind of customer traffic the city is chasing. A sports-heavy restaurant inside a growing entertainment district is built to capture event nights, youth sports weekends and regional visitors who already come to 17 Springs for games and tournaments. The scale of the concept also explains why the approval process drew attention: it is not just another tenant, it is a signal that the commercial side of 17 Springs is starting to fill out.

The hotel plan is part of the same bet

The Fairfield Inn being planned at 17 Springs fits into a pattern already visible on the ground. City materials say TownePlace Suites, owned by RAM Hotels, is now open on Hospitality Lane off Cobbs Ford Road, and an April 2025 report said that hotel was RAM’s second in Millbrook after SpringHill Suites, with a third property coming to 17 Springs as a Fairfield by Marriott. In that same report, Mayor Al Kelley said the relationship with RAM Hotels is “more like a family.”

For residents, the hotel strategy is less about branding than about capacity. A new hotel near the sports complex can support tournaments, graduations, youth events and business travel, while also keeping visitor spending inside Millbrook rather than sending it to Montgomery or farther down Interstate 65. That is the kind of long-run sales-tax effect city leaders typically want from a mixed-use district, and it is why the hotel line in the city update is as significant as the restaurant line.

What to watch over the next 6 to 12 months

The clearest signs of delivery will be visible, not abstract. If Big Mikes opens on schedule downtown, residents should expect more evening activity around the old WELCOME Food Pantry site. If Baumhower’s and the Fairfield Inn move forward at 17 Springs, the city’s main growth corridor will gain a restaurant with a strong sports identity and another hotel room block, which should intensify traffic near Alabama Highway 14 and the broader 17 Springs complex. The Marketplace is described as being one mile east of Interstate 65 at Exit 181, so the spillover from these projects will likely be felt in vehicle counts, parking demand and weekend congestion as much as in new storefronts.

That is why the city’s growth story now deserves accountability, not just applause. Millbrook sits in the southwest corner of Elmore County, about ten miles north of Montgomery, and the U.S. Census Bureau lists the city at 16,564 in the 2020 census and 17,392 in the July 1, 2024 estimate. In a city with five council wards and a mayor elected at-large, residents have a straightforward way to trace which leaders are backing the pipeline that is reshaping downtown and 17 Springs, and the next year will show whether the promised dining and lodging boom turns into lasting local revenue.