The Lauderdale County School Board voted Thursday to approve a 40-year contract for leasing Sixteenth Section land to Collett for the development of Crossroads II, which developers say could begin as early as next week.

“We’re anxious to get started and we expect to get started sometime next week,” said Wesley Walls, the developer from Collett overseeing the project. 

The Crossroads shopping plaza opened to great fanfare in November of 2007, bringing stores such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Petco. Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A and others soon built freestanding stores as well.

Phase II of the project hit a roadblock in 2008 during the recession, however, halting progress, according to previous reporting.

After a false start in 2015 with RCG Ventures ended sometime in 2016, Collett replaced the developer in March of 2017.

Walls said in December that following the school board’s approval the company could break ground for a 55,000 to 60,000 square-foot facility for Hobby Lobby as part of the first phase of Crossroads II.

Following that, another 60,000 to 70,000 square-foot facility will be added for a sporting goods store, which hasn’t yet been named publicly.

The final store in Phase II will be a smaller store, perhaps a fast-food store, Walls said in December, bringing the total Phase II construction to 135,000 square feet.

North Carolina-based Collett secured tax breaks from Lauderdale County in December after earlier receiving approval for tax breaks from the Meridian City Council.