Opelika Mill 1 — The proposed development was recently approved by city council. (City of Opelika)

Roughly a year after the city approved to rezone nearly 40 acres including the site of the old Pepperell Mill, more details are being shared about the proposed development.

The city council approved of the new plans during a meeting earlier this month + saw a more detailed look at the proposal at a work meeting.

Keep reading to learn everything we currently know about the project.

The Mill

Opelika Mill 2025 07 15 At 11.58.25 Am — A rendering of the project. (City of Opelika)

According to documents from the city council work session, the property is approximately 40.98 acres within the Pepperell Village Historic District and is located south of N 29th St, east of Cunningham Drive and north of the railroad tracks.

The project will be known as The Mill and is expected to include roughly $125 million of capital investment over the next decade. The development is expected to include:

24 50′ single-family lots
43 40′ single-family lots
111 townhome lots
6 single-story office/retail
8 three-story, multi-use buildings
2 food and beverage
Clubhouse
Event space

There is a total of 327 residential units in the current proposal.

The property is divided primarily into two sections and construction will be completed in multiple phases.

The commercial and multi-family section is located along 1st Avenue and is comprised of approximately 17.35 acres including 163,750 square feet of commercial space and 1.1 acres of open space. The remaining residential section is approximately 23.63 acres that includes approximately 1.4 acres of open space.

Opelika Mill 2025 07 15 At 11.59.04 Am E1752600189208 — The Mill’s master plan. (City of Opelika)

Historic Pepperell Mill site

The historic district is named after the Pepperell Mill which was built in 1925, becoming the home of the formerly Maine-based Pepperell Manufacturing Company.

The company built a village on site too, housing hundreds of employees and their families. Over the next couple of decades, the village included different features including:

Movie theater
Pharmacy
Grocery store
Post office
Barbershop

Pepperell eventually declared bankrupcy in the 1990s and closed its Opelika location in 2006. The site + much of the surrounding area has been abandoned ever since.

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