40 replies to this topic

[Blazer85]

This is actually the same Melaver development we heard about a while back, but apparently there has been a bit of an upgrade. Originally planned to be only 14-stories, it's now been upgraded to 17-stories (which would make this the tallest new construction in downtown Birmingham in nearly two decades).  The first floor would be the lobby/retail space.  The next 8-floors would be office space.  And the top 8-floors would make up a 200-unit 4-star hotel.  I really hope this thing comes into being.  The first phase (ie, rennovating the current Federal Reserve Building is well under way.  This 17-story tower will be coming in the second phase.

[someguyfrombham]

If they upgraded it maybe that means they've had some success finding tenants?

[kayman]

This is great news for Downtown.  This project has revived my hope that the business community in Birmingham hasn't given up.

[dfwtiger]

Blazer85, on Oct 27 2006, 10:33 AM, said:

This is actually the same Melaver development we heard about a while back, but apparently there has been a bit of an upgrade. Originally planned to be only 14-stories, it's now been upgraded to 17-stories (which would make this the tallest new construction in downtown Birmingham in nearly two decades).  The first floor would be the lobby/retail space.  The next 8-floors would be office space.  And the top 8-floors would make up a 200-unit 4-star hotel.  I really hope this thing comes into being.  The first phase (ie, rennovating the current Federal Reserve Building is well under way.  This 17-story tower will be coming in the second phase.

Have you seen any conceptual plans?

[someguyfrombham]

dfwtiger, on Oct 27 2006, 12:05 PM, said:

Have you seen any conceptual plans?

Where is this information from?  Just wondering.

[Blazer85]

someguyfrombham, on Oct 27 2006, 03:25 PM, said:

Where is this information from?  Just wondering.

Everyone just read with a grain of salt... I'm reporting what I read on another board (similar to this one).  I don't know if there was anything official released on this or if the person just found out from personal contacts.

[Blazer85]

Here's a image of what the tower is expected to look like.  Found it posted on another board:



I'm still hearing it's supposed to be 17-stories.

Edited by Blazer85, 19 December 2006 - 09:20 PM.

[convulso]

Blazer85, on Dec 19 2006, 10:17 PM, said:

Here's a image of what the tower is expected to look like.

thanks a ton for getting your hands on a rendering. nice to see, finally!

[Dystopos]

convulso, on Dec 20 2006, 06:32 AM, said:

thanks a ton for getting your hands on a rendering. nice to see, finally!

Make that 18 stories.
BhamWiki:Federal Reserve Building#Current plans

Edited by Dystopos, 21 December 2006 - 12:37 PM.

[HSVTiger]

Dystopos, on Dec 21 2006, 12:36 PM, said:

Make that 18 stories.
BhamWiki:Federal Reserve Building#Current plans

they need to push it to twenty and add a spire. I guess money might enter the equation.
Good to see though.

[Dystopos]

HSVTiger, on Dec 21 2006, 03:08 PM, said:

they need to push it to twenty and add a spire. I guess money might enter the equation.
Good to see though.

A spire? Don't you think something besides overall height from ground level might enter the equation?

[Blazer85]

Interesting, but awesome news.  I wonder what keeps making them bump it up.  They had claimed to have some difficulties finding a tenant for the office portion... but yet, even though apparently they've landed some deal with a hotel, they increased the height yet again.  

We're actually going to get a new high-rise! Yay! Assuming it doesn't go to the same graveyard as so many others.  It won't stand out necessarily, but I guess it's safe to say that it'll at the very least contribute to the density of that area.

[cm111]

I posted this on another thread before I realized this one was here:

I looked at the Lexington Collection website, and their properties don't look very impressive to me. I would prefer an Omni for the Federal Reserve site.

By the way, you can go to the Melaver website and see a photo image of how they envision the new structure fitting into the block. Here's the link:

http://www.melaver.c....ent3.asp?id=29

Hold your mouse over the image to see a larger version.

[cm111]

Also -- as for the potential tenant of the office building -- I saw in the paper the other day that SONAT needs new space.  Currently they apparently lease 11 floors in the former AmSouth building.  I had thought of two obvious alternatives -- either the Colonial Properties Building or the new Melaver one.  Does anyone know if Colonial is moving out of their building downtown to move to Brookwood?  If so, would that mean that their downtown building needs a new occupant?  In the alternative, maybe the Melaver building would fit the bill.

[Southron]

Any updates on this project?

[Blazer85]

ExpatBaman, on Apr 4 2007, 08:52 AM, said:

Any updates on this project?

Plans are still on-track as far as I know... the renovation and conversion of the actual Federal Reserve building was Phase I, however.  The tower was Phase II.  It may still be a while before the tower construction begins, but hopefully won't be too much longer.

[Blazer85]

BTW, another thing I failed to realize about this project was that, once completed, this will become downtown's ONLY 4-star hotel.  I'm sure there are others in the metro area, but this will be the first one that's actually downtown.  They did anticipate the tower being complete by 2008/2009... and given that, you'd think they would either have started or be starting soon.

Initially, this was to only be a $40-million project (prior to the decision to upgrade the proposal).  An article as recent as February, however, now places the figure to be at $70-million.

Here's the latest rendering... it's the second tall structure from the right in this picture...

Edited by Blazer85, 09 April 2007 - 06:06 PM.

[Blazer85]

A few more renderings of the Federal Reserve Tower, but again, this looks to be the 14-story version rather than the 18-story version...

[convulso]

it's cool to see these. where are you getting the renderings / latest info?

thanks for posting them.

[dfwtiger]

Blazer85, on Apr 9 2007, 11:43 PM, said:

A few more renderings of the Federal Reserve Tower, but again, this looks to be the 14-story version rather than the 18-story version...

Not bad....its is always good to see more infill