Local ‘investor’ to partner with Town of Phil Campbell to acquire Broad Street building for city

by John Pilati

At a special called meeting Monday evening, the Phil Campbell Town Council took an unexpected major step toward acquiring a dilapidated downtown building that’s long been an eyesore for the community.

The council unanimously approved by a 4-0 vote (Councilmen Barry King and Phillip King were absent) authorizing Mayor Eddie Marbutt to purchase the 10-partition building on behalf of the city and to spend $10,000 of city funds toward that purchase.

Council members Lynn Landers, Rodney Kuykendall and Billy Burks, along with Marbutt, voted in favor of moving forward to purchase the property.

The city will pay $10,000 of a reported $40,000 purchase price negotiated between Al Cartee, whose family owns the building, and a local investor who will pay the remaining $30,000 in order for the town to acquire the property.

The investor, who Marbutt said ‘preferred’ to remain anonymous through as much of the process as possible, doesn’t want any ownership or interest in the property. His plans are to contribute $30,000 toward buying the building for the town.

“He came to us wanting to help with the Broad Street building situation,” Marbutt said at the August 11th meeting. “He has been in negotiations with Mr. Cartee and believes they have worked out a deal. He came to me offering to put $30,000 toward the purchase if the town would put in the remaining $10,000.

“He doesn’t want the building in his name. He will sign over his interest to us once the sale from Mr. Cartee is finalized,” Marbutt added.

Marbutt said the investor plans to meet with Cartee this week to finalize the deal now that the council approved the $10,000 contribution toward the purchase.

A judgment against Cartee serves as a lien against the property, but the investor told Marbutt the judgment will be satisfied using some of the $40,000 purchase money, so there won’t be any issues with the city obtaining clear title.

There is also an ongoing fine against Cartee and a lien on the property from a court order in the Phil Campbell Municipal Court that imposes a continuing $500 fine every 10 days for each of the building’s partitions that remain in violation of city ordinances.

If the city successfully acquires the property, though, that will eliminate the potential cloud on the title as the city will drop the fine and judgment.

Should Cartee renege on the agreement, though, the city’s ongoing fine and judgment will remain in full force and effect. Additionally, a condemnation proceeding initiated by the town would move forward in the event the sale falls through.

Marbutt said the cost of litigating the condemnation case through the court system could force the city to incur more than the $10,000 it will invest in purchasing the building.

“This is definitely the best and easiest route to go to save these buildings,” Marbutt said.

City officials have already done minor cleanup behind the Broad Street property but no city officials have permission to enter any building so no inspection or cleanup inside has been done.

“We haven’t been able to get in the buildings and our attorney advised us not to enter them or do anything until there is a resolution,” Marbutt said.

Marbutt has spoken with North Alabama Council on Local Governments officials, as well as Rep. Jamie Kiel, Sen. Larry Stutts and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt about obtaining grant funding sufficient to at least restore the building to structural soundness.

One issue discussed by the council was liability once the city owns the building. The city has a general liability insurance policy but town officials would be responsible for doing cleanup and repairs to bring the building up to code standards, something a structural engineer who inspected the building earlier this year said won’t be easy, or cheap.

On April 8th, 2025, Scott Dollar, an engineer with MAK Engineering of Birmingham, performed a site visit to the building. Dollar’s inspection was limited to the exterior as Cartee would not unlock the building to allow access.

The only three he could access were the three partitions that house a marital arts academy, Gigi’s Unique Finds and a restaurant. The remaining seven partitions were not accessible.

The Broad Street building is more than 100 years old and each partition is dependent on the adjacent partitions for structural integrity.

Dollar’s assessment was the building ‘has severe structural deficiencies with roof collapse located throughout the building. In addition, the masonry wall mortar joints are in severe condition….Catastrophic collapse of the Broad Street building structure, including but not limited to, the remaining roof structure and walls, is possible,’ Dollar’s report concluded.

The engineer recommended the building should not be occupied until structural shoring, repairs and reinforcement is completed by a qualified contractor.

While the martial arts academy has relocated, the store and restaurant remain as the only two partitions in use in the building.

Progress on the complaints the city filed against Cartee in municipal court has been, at a minimum, slow. One complaint was for operating the former laundromat without a license. The other was for a nuisance abatement. The cases have stalled in court after repeated continuances requested by Cartee’s attorney.

Phil Campbell has only six municipal court dates each year, so the legal process could continue to drag on, something the proposed deal would resolve.

Frustration and anger from Phil Campbell residents and business owners boiled over at an April 15th council meeting that could not go forward due to lack of a quorum.

After Marbutt was appointed mayor in late spring, he pledged to address the building issue as ‘an immediate problem, not a long-term one.’

Now, a possible resolution is in sight, something nobody saw coming until a local ‘investor’ contacted the mayor last week with news of a potential resolution.

If the deal is completed and the city becomes legal owner of the property, that local ‘investor,’ who wants nothing more than to help his town, would become a visionary who helped resolve one of the biggest issues to face Phil Campbell in years.