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Redevelopment in the City Center

kayman

By kayman
in Birmingham

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  • 3 months later...

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kayman Town

kayman

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Residents well aware of growth, poll shows

Among the results:

Ninety-one percent are aware of growth and development under way in the city center.

More than 93 percent believe a healthy, growing downtown is important to them personally.

Nearly 73 percent recognize that downtown is an important source of jobs for city residents.

Eighty-four percent said downtown is safe during the workday.

This great news for Downtown Birmingham. However, much improve is to be made. Downtown should be lively and safe at as well as during the day with a variety of entertainment options. There should be the continue shrive to be the epicenter of jobs and major developments within the region.

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  • 4 months later...
Blazer85 Hamlet

Blazer85

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Calvin Grigsby (of San Francisco) and Michael Roberts (of St. Louis) want to invest $40M in the area around the Civil Rights District. Part of it would be spent on the construction of a new hotel, part on retail/lofts, part on a conference center, and part on rehabilitating and turning the A.G. Gaston Motel into an interactive museum. The motel was one of the first available for African-Americans in downtown Birmingham and became a very important meeting place for civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. For this, the motel was bombed in 1963.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/inde....xml&coll=2

I personally think this would be an outstanding development. Currently there are no hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Civil Rights District, pretty much no retail, and no meeting space. Also is an excellent idea to rehab and turn the AG Gaston Motel into an interactive museum. If this development comes to fruition, in only adds to the appeal of the district to tourists and locals alike. Let's hope the city can work with the developers on this one and make it happen.

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Southron Burg

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This sounds like a great project. It would really be great to see a major renaissance on the western side of downtown. The area has good bones, if the money can be found for renovation and infill.

I hope the city can get this development done.

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kayman Town

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Luckily at the moment, all of this redevelopment of the A.G. Gaston Hotel and the Civil Rights District will be handled by private investors, i.e., Roberts. I think Roberts is going to wait until after the mayoral election before anything major involving the District to start.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Blazer85 Hamlet

Blazer85

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Luckily at the moment, all of this redevelopment of the A.G. Gaston Hotel and the Civil Rights District will be handled by private investors, i.e., Roberts. I think Roberts is going to wait until after the mayoral election before anything major involving the District to start.

Well, though I could understand him waiting, I kind of hope he doesn't. Too many things in this city are progressing along far too slowly anyway. That's been one of my bigger gripes about the leadership here. It's not that we're not growing at all. We're growing... just far too slowly. We're not living up to our potential in terms of growth. I mean some people propose things, only to turn around and take their development elsewhere because things don't progress rapidly enough. I'm all for being cautious and doing your homework on development teams, but once that's done, projects should move quickly. I don't too much care of Kincaid gets credit for this development or not... I think he's a lame duck anyway. Hopefully. I'm hopeful that with all these residential units coming downtown, more and more intelligent people will begin to fill the City of Birmingham's population, and thereby maybe begin to have an impact on the city council and mayoral elections of this city.

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kayman Town

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off topic, but a quickie: has anyone heard anything further about valerie abbott's interest in running for mayor?

Well, there was an article in the Birmingham Weekly from last week discussing this very topic. I'm not sure of The Weekly has an online archive, but you can go to their website and search and see.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Alabadrock Hamlet

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You best believe I will better believe I will be voting against Kincaid in November. I am beyond tired of him and some of those clowns on the Council.

Same here! And I live an hour and a half away from the city. I'm not even a citizen of Bham, and I'm getting sick and tired of this. Cause, the decisions they make, have an effect on all of the state. But, what I'm most POed about, is that they're letting one of the most beautiful cities in the whole country, a city that is stuffed full of history and culture just rot and wither away. I'm tired of it. If I lived closer to the area, you better believe I'd be in one of those city council meetings doin something, cause I don't like to just sit here and watch them destroy what millions have put their lives into.

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  • 1 month later...
Blazer85 Hamlet

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The city has paid a crew to clean up the interior of the Gaston Motel in preparation for the site to be shown to prospective investors. The city seems really confident that Roberts can and will get this project done. I really hope so. This project will really help with the overall tourism appeal of the Civil Rights District.

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  • 2 months later...
kayman Town

kayman

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The Roberts Companies has announced that it will be refurbishing the A.G. Gaston Hotel. The City has signed a letter of intent with the company to allow as much as $9 million in incentives for the project. The project calls for the renovation of the hotel and may include related projects such as retail and meeting space and a nightclub. Roberts also announced that the since the hotel was place of many of MLK, Jr. staged protests that the hotel will have a "Martin Luther King Room" as its top luxury suite. The refurbished hotel will have 65 to 70 rooms, and likely will carry the national chain brand name.

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  • 8 months later...
bhamsly Whistle-Stop

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Developer moves forward on Famous Theater plan

The developer of the Famous Theater in downtown Birmingham's Fourth Avenue Historic Business District is one step closer to starting renovations with nearly $10,000 in incentives from the city.

Developer and architect Nolanda Bearden plans to create the first set of lofts in the historically black business district and renovate the 80-year-old theater's first floor into offices, with construction starting by the end of the summer, Bearden said.

Bearden declined to disclose a project total for the renovations, but earlier reports estimated it could reach $1 million, which includes the $250,000 purchase price.

The Famous Theater project joins a handful of other major redevelopment plans on the drawing boards in the area, which could help revitalize it into an entertainment district - once the city and developers agree on incentives to make the projects happen.

  • A mixed-use development around the A.G. Gaston Hotel, to be developed by St. Louis businessman Michael V. Roberts.
  • A $10 million renovation of the Grand Lodge Masonic Temple. Owners Prince Hall Masons are currently raising funds and Hicks said work could start in six months.
  • A local architect is proposing more lofts and commercial space for two adjoining buildings on 18th Street North, near Fourth Avenue.

The existing businesses in the district are about 85 percent service-oriented, with very little retail, he said. But these additional projects, including the Famous Theater, will lend itself to attracting retail and additional restaurants with storefront opportunities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stor...1774400^1639474

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  • 2 months later...
kayman Town

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Here are 2 proposal for the Entrepreneurial/Civil Rights Districts. I guess I should have started an Entrepreneurial/Civil Rights District topic, but this will be fine.

Entrepreneurial District

http://www.al.com/business/birminghamnews/....xml&coll=2

Civil Rights District

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/inde....xml&coll=2

I like the sounds of these proposals considering the area is still searching for an identity when comes to tourism. GBCVB needs to steep up on their IN Birmingham campaign so that the city can get more of outside exposure and people will have a reason to patronize and visit the city while leaving with a good and warm impression of this place.

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  • 2 weeks later...
kayman Town

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Major developments in the Entrepreneurial District and 2nd Avenue N.

Apparently, there has been some movement towards in both the Entrepreneurial District and along 2nd Avenue within the City Center.

The Innovation Depot was the inital spark that popped off a major movement of redevelopment of the Western portion. Recent developments now includes the new Social Security Administration Building located on the northern end of this part on the edge of Fountain Heights, on-hold project of the Leer Tower redevelopment, the A.G. Gaston Hotel convertion into a Holiday Inn Expess with conference center, and finally the Railroad Park. A number of business owners are moving their business to locales in this area of the City Center due to the large vacant space of many of the abandoned buildings such as the Acme Building with Magic City Scooter and the relocation of Gallet & Associates from Homewood.

More about the Western Front redevelopment here.

There are also plans for a new nightclub and new grocery market along with other new businesses in the area such as Urban Standard coffee shop and restaurant. The new nightclub will be called the Rogue and the new market, Gypsy Market will be convienence/grocery store for the neighborhood. The Rogue will be a restaurant during the day, and convert into a club by nightfall, and should began construction upon receival of city construction permits and county health department appprovals. All this seems to be spin-off developments form the 2nd Row development that included condos above the Urban Standard, Travel Scene, and Erdreich Architecture, which was all developed by Jeremy Erdreich.

There are also plans for major road improvements to the 14th Street corridor from UAB all the way to the Entrepreneurial District anticipation of the opening of the Railroad Park along with the redevelopment of the corridor from a warehouse and manufacturing district into a more small business/mixed-used area with more residential dwellings. Also, there are plans to convert 2nd Avenue North from an one-way street into a two-way corridor to increase more business traffic along the corridor.

It looks like slight more brisk pace of developments are coming to the City Center.

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bhamsly Whistle-Stop

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Apparently, there has been some movement towards in both the Entrepreneurial District and along 2nd Avenue within the City Center.

The Innovation Depot was the inital spark that popped off a major movement of redevelopment of the Western portion. Recent developments now includes the new Social Security Administration Building located on the northern end of this part on the edge of Fountain Heights, on-hold project of the Leer Tower redevelopment, the A.G. Gaston Hotel convertion into a Holiday Inn Expess with conference center, and finally the Railroad Park. A number of business owners are moving their business to locales in this area of the City Center due to the large vacant space of many of the abandoned buildings such as the Acme Building with Magic City Scooter and the relocation of Gallet & Associates from Homewood.

More about the Western Front redevelopment here.

There are also plans for a new nightclub and new grocery market along with other new businesses in the area such as Urban Standard coffee shop and restaurant. The new nightclub will be called the Rogue and the new market, Gypsy Market will be convienence/grocery store for the neighborhood. The Rogue will be a restaurant during the day, and convert into a club by nightfall, and should began construction upon receival of city construction permits and county health department appprovals. All this seems to be spin-off developments form the 2nd Row development that included condos above the Urban Standard, Travel Scene, and Erdreich Architecture, which was all developed by Jeremy Erdreich.

There are also plans for major road improvements to the 14th Street corridor from UAB all the way to the Entrepreneurial District anticipation of the opening of the Railroad Park along with the redevelopment of the corridor from a warehouse and manufacturing district into a more small business/mixed-used area with more residential dwellings. Also, there are plans to convert 2nd Avenue North from an one-way street into a two-way corridor to increase more business traffic along the corridor.

It looks like slight more brisk pace of developments are coming to the City Center.

That's indeed great news. That particular area is pretty underserved, and has so much potential. More projects similar to University House(large apartments and loft buildings for student and others) should be built. A couple of midrising towers on that side of town would be very attractive too. Too bad that Innovation Depot could not have been a little more on ther large scale side, known as Innovation Tower.

There are some great things happening around town, and I hope that things only get better. Many of the areas to the south of I-20/59, and I-20...Crestwood/Eastwood to Southside/Downtown to Oxmoor Valley(in the future).

I saw an illustration for the proposal of 14th Street....I think, and it looked really nice.I will see if I can find that link again.

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  • 5 months later...
kayman Town

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Urban Art museum takes step forward

The proposed $18M museum dedicated to urban culture and art has finally gained a project design firm in Place Design Studio, LLC. The museum to be called the Museum of Urban Art, is a decade-long proposal of Charlena Jackson that will be located in the historical 4th Avenue District. It will be the major boast that will contribute to revitalized the northwestern portion of the City Center along with the area, which as a number of small developments that began to take off in recent years. The museum will the first of its kind which totally dedicated to exhibition of urban culture and art. The finish project will be 80,000 square-foot, 5-story facility with exhibition galleries, multiplex theater, and recording studio.

This looks like a huge deal once it gets off the ground to the area because it will be another sign of the revitalization for the City Center's western part that is very visible to the travelers along I-65. In addition, a huge addition to the area's art community along with a new tourist attraction. Birmingham has the potential to be a major tourist hub for a plethora things within the urban and black cultures exposing to the world the many unique and fascinating aspects.

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