People along Alabama 181 in Fairhope will soon have a chance for a close encounter with a new Waffle House.

Waffle House paid $750,000 for lot 10 in the Encounter development on Alabama181 and Alabama 104 in Fairhope, according to Herrington Realty. The Encounter development is a 13-lot commercial project on 35 acres.

The property was named Encounter as an ode to the 1977 sci-fi movie ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Some of the scenes from the movie were filmed at an existing house on the northwest corner of the land.

The transaction was one of several of note across coastal Alabama in recent days.

A local company paid $376,000 for 2,900 square feet of space at 5910 Grelot Road, according to Chris Harle of White-Spunner Realty. The buyers plan to use the property for office space.

Watch for The Cove at Bear Point Heights, a single-family subdivision with seven lots being considered for the northeast corner of Canal Road and Avenue C in Orange Beach.

There are plans for The Waters at OWA, a multi-family development off OWA Boulevard and west of the Foley Beach Express in Foley. The project would include 324 units in 10 buildings.

Hotel developers are seeking site plan approval to build a Hilton Hotel and a TownePlace Suites by Marriott on Eastern Shore Boulevard in the Eastern Shore Centre in Spanish Fort, according to city planning. Parking space requirements are under discussion with the city.

The eight-story Embassy Suites hotel under construction in downtown Gulf Shores is scheduled to open this summer, and the Hilton-brand resort is already taking reservations for Aug. 1 and beyond. The hotel on West Beach Boulevard across from the beach and The Hangout features 257 rooms, a lobby bar and restaurant, a rooftop amenity terrace, a pool deck and 13,620 square feet of meeting and pre-function space. There will be a three-story parking garage and 7,618 square feet of retail space for lease