HUGE turnaround for Powell School if this goes through:

Apartment developer hopes to buy Powell School


for those not familiar with the property, it is birmingham's oldest school building (dating back to the 1880s). this place was gutted by fire in 2011 and literally stood roofless for a while. thought it might get torn down. the alabama historical preservation commission stepped in and has had the roof replaced.

http://media.al.com/spotnews/photo/9179018-large.jpg

http://assets.bizjournals.com/birmin...rousel.jpg?v=1

Thanks for posting, Tim! I was just getting my day started when I read that someone was interested in Powell.

I'm of the belief that gentrification and downtown revitalization go hand in hand, but I really hope that this project (if it goes through) blends in with residences nearby.

All that being said, I'm so glad that someone is legitimately interested in turning Powell into something!

ok, THESE are the stories we need more of:

Harbert plans 15-story, $40 million apartment project on Birmingham's Highland Avenue

http://media.al.com/business_impact/...60fd0e2e35.jpg

http://media.al.com/business_impact/...3101f3983b.jpg

http://media.al.com/business_impact/...cae25f16cc.jpg

hopefully the ground level will be treated appropriately in terms of function / scale. this will still have to gain final approval from the 5 points south neighborhood association and the birmingham design review committee... no doubt they'll emphasize the walkability of this area and instruct the architects to preserve/enhance that here.

I doubt they'll have much of a problem with it, though I think they might find some issue with the amount of the deck that is exposed. Also, it sounds like there could be a bit more retail, which for 5 Pt S, this project could really benefit from having.

EDIT: I also wondering just how much of a difference 2 stories makes in comparison with surrounding buildings... Would it really have stood out that much?

yeah, i thought the height thing was weird too. this thing is gonna tower over all the 3 and 4 story buildings near it... not sure why it mattered if it was 15 stories vs 17.

also, having driven by the site today, i think it will have quite a noticeable presence from the expressway/280.

btw, here's where i understand the site to be:

[IMG]http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps544020c5.jpg[/IMG]

It seems like it should be larger than that little circle. Is One Highland the red brick building?

I did a search for that "outpatient diagnostic center" and it IDed that location that Tim circled. I think this project will be taking over the footprint of the current structure as well as the parking lot behind it.


This thing definitely should be pretty noticeable from the Expressway, especially from the southbound lanes. As far as this thing towering over the 2-3 story buildings, I think you're right, BRAVO; fortunately, though, this thing is pretty near some of those taller ones that are near where Highland crosses over the Expressway, so it should have a little bit of company.

My one concern with the height is that it's going to dominate Temple Beth El.

Master list updated with info on 5 Pts S tower.

good eye, BRAVO... as tascalisa pointed out, the parking lot just below the building i circled is also part of the site. that will be the parking deck. i'm glad the parking deck will be surrounded units so that it isn't so obtrusive.

tasc, you're right about this building having some company... it's just down the road from the brick "twins" that you pass between as the expressway enters into downtown. i tweeted the guy from al.com who was at the design review meeting. he told me this building will be 165.5' tall. (if emporis.com is to be believed, that would make it one of the top 25 tallest buildings in the city...kinda cool and sad at the same time haha.)

Haha, honestly, though, I think many cities around the US would be happy to have a building being built that is one of their Top 25 tallest.

Great news for our neighbor to the west! More proof that Birmingham is on a roll. :)

Loving the Atlanta connections with SRSS & the developer.

Edit - Here's SWSS's website:

http://www.srssa.com/index.php

a couple of UAB development notes. i think a new dorm was mentioned in this thread, but we never had images. luckily, they were presented in the UAB "state of the university" address, which i found online. the video was literally a recording of the presentation, so the images you see are screen shots. if/when we find the real images, we can replace these.

new dorm:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps41fc83d5.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps3922244e.jpg


and here's something they're calling "The Crescent"... kind of a new "front door" for UAB? looks huge:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pscbced364.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps87c93b01.jpg

Thanx Tim!

I like that Research/Academic Crescent! UAB needs some more, obvious places for gathering. As it is, it's so easy to drive through campus and just look at it as just another commuter college. That plaza in the crescent should go a long way to really creating a sense of place.

Also, it'll be nice to get some more height to join Shelby in that area. As it is, that building really towers over everything else.

Also glad to see the plans for more residence halls, 680 beds is huge for a school with the residential population of UAB.

BTW, how recent was that this presentation?

Very recent! Past couple of weeks.

Great news! You know, sometimes announcements like this are made and then things never start moving, so I'm glad this is something that happened recently.

Downtown Resurgence Buoying Metro Area's Commercial R.E.
 

Check out this terrific al.com story published on 11-15-13, written by Michael Tomberlin.

"Downtown Birmingham is leading the recovery of the metro area's commercial real estate industry officials said at a symposium this morning..."

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf...l#incart_river

^great article!

some numbers to take away:

93% apartment occupancy rate
95.4% office occupancy rate
1,153 apartment units currently under development
2,559 apartment units proposed

I didn't realize this before following this thread, and then subsequently exploring Birmingham a bit more via Google Earth, but B-ham has some great, quirky neighborhoods in the sense that they have irregular grids that can foster a amazing, symbiotic districts if developed right.