Birmingham Development News

[| BRAVO |]

Man... I can't think of a better place for an urban Waffle House. They are going to make a killing with the bars and clubs.

Birmingham is doing fine. Nashville and Charlotte are doing great. Atlanta has been an anomaly for 40 years... We have our issues and definitely have obstacles to overcome but we can hold our own against all other southern cities.

[urbansouth]

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...re-of-the.html

So, a nice building downtown (18th Street N) has received new owners and they're looking to fill it right up but keep the history intact. Here's the building:


Constructed in 1913 so a ripe old age. I wish that I could find a good shot from the corner because the side of the building is very nice-looking and gives it a good, robust character. Lots of windows overlooking a cobblestone alley, it's very Birmingham. Also I know that we in Birmingham sometimes get tired of the city overspending a little on civil rights stuff, but here I'm very glad to see that a group of black businessmen have purchased this building and intend to build add to the black community here and the city as whole with a nice urban development. Kudos to them and I hope it works out.

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...t-to-take.html

And here we see that 29Seven's commercial space is filling up incredibly fast! This looks good and I hope it spurs the developer to do more of the same because these kind of mixed-use builidngs are really the best way to revitalize a city and keep it thriving long-term.

“We’re completely confident it’s going to be a catalyst for more mixed-use development in the area,” Jolly said.
One multifamily project in the area – the $35 million, 247-unit complex on Clairmont Avenue overlooking the Highland Park Golf Course’s 12th hole – could be under construction soon, according to its developers.
David Oakley, who heads the Birmingham office of multifamily firm Hendricks & Partners, said he expected the units to be 100 percent preleased by August.
The development’s walk-about concept is growing in popularity as local gas prices and employment levels rise, he said. And flat-screen televisions in every unit can’t hurt.
“The growth of that area – all that’s going on down there – is going to be a big hit, especially among the younger people,” Oakley said.
That demographic, he said, is looking to live near entertainment.

This is all good news. I had never heard of this big condo project but it sounds great. Did you guys know about it?

[desertpunk]

Effort To Restore The Thomas Jefferson Hotel

The Thomas Jefferson Hotel (pictured above, corner of 17th Street North and 2nd Avenue) has yet another chance for salvation due to the formation of a non-profit dedicated to stabilizing and restoring the 1929 structure to its former glory.Thomas Jefferson Tower, Inc. plans to acquire the building, stabilize it–and then work hard to put a viable restoration plan together.

This hotel opened within months of the Great Depression, and is a symbol of the last days of heady 1920′s optimism that had engulfed Birmingham real estate. It’s height and adornment testify to the belief that the City’s growth would extend inexorably westward; the Depression put a stop to such growth, and the hotel suffered somewhat from its relative isolation (in comparison to the Tutwiler Hotel, for instance).

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Please consider supporting this effort by signing up for the non-profit’s website, and following their twitter feed. The time is right to help make this project happen!

...

[musiccity]

The building U/C by Brookwood Village Mall is complete and looks great!

[desertpunk]

Changing of the guard

Regions Plaza Building to sport new signage as Viva Health takes over

This morning the Design Review Committee approved new illuminated signage at the top of the former Region’s Plaza building (rendering above, corner of 20th Street North and 5th Avenue). The 1976 building–home to Regions Bank before mergers and consolidations emptied it in 2007–has most recently been the subject of different hotel proposals. Viva Health–a Birmingham-based HMO–is now creating its new headquarters in the building. It will reorganize the ground floor, which previously had bank and elevator lobbies, into retail tenant space, with a Viva-run coffee shop planned on 20th Street (other tenants to be announced). Slight changes were mandated to the signage presented, but it will look essentially as depicted above, on all four sides.

As we’ve recently discussed in other contexts, while it’s great that a locally-based company is helping to fill a long-vacant tower downtown–and is adding its brand to the skyline–it’s moving from a Southside location on the other side of downtown. Will its former location be quickly filled by a new occupant? Given its proximity to UAB‘s campus, chances are high that it won’t be vacant for long.

[| BRAVO |]

So... What all is going on around town.

- The airport addition is set to open next year
- BJCC Entertainment District opens in May with Texas de Brazil as a tenant.
- BJCC Westin opens in January
- Viva Health is moving it's headquarters downtown
- The I-65/I-22 interchange is looking sweet
- Regions Park, the new home for the Barons is coming out of the ground
- New developments around Regions Park/Railroad Park are slowly taking shape.
- The intermodal facility is supposedly at a stand-still
- World of Beer is set to open soon near Five Points
- What happened with the hotel planned in Five Points?
- Lakeview 29 Seven is progressing and Hueys 24/7 Diner has signed on as a tenant
- Grand Bohemian Hotel announced plans for a new location in the new $130 million Lane Parke Development in Mtn. Brook
- The new 2 level Target in Homewood is looking super cool
- Nordstrom Rack announced plans for Alabama's 1st store on 280 in Shelby County
- Renovations at the Galleria are progressing which includes Alabama's 1st VonMaur

What did I forget?

[musiccity]

Was in Birmingham for Thanksgiving.. didn't see too much in terms of construction. The hotel by I-20 in downtown is complete and is looking very nice!

[musiccity]

Heard about this on the radio, not Bham but in Tuscaloosa


Mixed-Use Apartment + Retail Development breaking ground called the Lofts at City Center

Renders







Website: http://www.theloftsatcitycenter.com/

[| BRAVO |]

Ew... Get that Tuscalooser stuff out of here.

[| BRAVO |]

Originally Posted by musiccity

Was in Birmingham for Thanksgiving.. didn't see too much in terms of construction. The hotel by I-20 in downtown is complete and is looking very nice!

I guess you you didn't look very closely...

[musiccity]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Ew... Get that Tuscalooser stuff out of here.

Hahaha Tuscaloosa sucks! I'm an Auburn fan....

But no Tuscaloosa thread so I posted here

[musiccity]

I wish Birmingham would get a nice, new highrise in the downtown area. At least 30 floors

[LSyd]

^YES!!!

too bad the federal reserve redevelopment tower fell through.

-

[desertpunk]

Regions Field

December:

image hosted on flickr

Regions Field, Birmingham (Ala.), 20 December 2012 by milanite, on Flickr

February:

image hosted on flickr

The New Regions Park by jimmywayne, on Flickr

[desertpunk]

The Westin Birmingham is now completed


http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2013...tel_to_be.html

Nov:
image hosted on flickr

Westin Hotel by bamaboy1941, on Flickr

By design:

image hosted on flickr

The Westin Birmingham—Hotel Exterior & Uptown - Rendering by Westin Hotels and Resorts, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

The Westin Birmingham—Pool Deck - Rendering by Westin Hotels and Resorts, on Flickr

[musiccity]

It's nice! I pass by it on the interstate all the time

[musiccity]

In Bham,

I'm trying to convince my relatives that we should go to Railroad Park tomorrow, I've really wanted to see it since it opened but I'm never in that part of Birmingham. Also want to see the new Regions Field.


Does anyone know whats going up at the Galleria? I saw construction while going past