Birmingham Development News - Page 101

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2001** Posted **Jul 29, 2013, 8:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

agreed, parkview station was my favorite of the 10.

(possibly because i submitted the similarly-named parkview row lol...)

True, but it really is one of the few names that don't sound completely like student housing developments in a college town.

*BRAVO* · #**2002** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 12:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by quattordici

The Stockyard @ Railroad Park
BSB Complex
Horizon Point
The Press Box – on 2nd Ave S.
Parkview Station
Park Grove
The Magic City Station
The Bricks
SouthTrack Square
2nd Row South

Yeah, not great. I think I could live with "The Bricks". Otherwise, just a bunch of generic crap.

Tourian · #**2003** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 3:32 PM**

The Bricks makes me think of The brickyard or "hit the bricks."

A projects and a phrase meaning "bounce" or "get lost"

It was one of my least favorite. Many of the others sounded like they were trying too hard to be trendy or just another generic suburban subdivision.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2004** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 6:03 PM**

None of them are the least bit creative; even mine wasn't all that spectacular. Knowing Birmingham's luck, "Horizon Point" will win...

Horizon Point... it sounds like some effing funeral home or retirement community. What young professional is going to want to live in the lofts that are going to be a part of this development? I can hear it now, "Hey, where are you?" reply: "Horizon Point." "Oh, I'm so sorry; who died?"

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2005** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 7:55 PM**

Plans revived for $7M apartment complex by UAB

By Ryan Poe
Birmingham Biz Journal
LINK

Quote:

Developers have torn down the tombstone-like columns of the unfinished University Flats condo project in Five Points South, making way for a new $6.6 million apartment complex.

Hoar Construction Project Manager Kyle Abbey said his company – the general contractor on the project – has already begun building the 60-unit, 80,522-square-foot apartment complex at 1101 11th Ave. S.

The complex, still named University Flats, should be open by mid-summer 2014, he said. There may also be a second phase of the project, depending on the success of the first.
.......

*BRAVO* · #**2006** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 8:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tourian

The Bricks makes me think of The brickyard or "hit the bricks."

A projects and a phrase meaning "bounce" or "get lost"

It was one of my least favorite. Many of the others sounded like they were trying too hard to be trendy or just another generic suburban subdivision.

It made me think of the brick streets or brick used in Railroad Park.

Or... possibly all the brick used at UAB.

*BRAVO* · #**2007** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 8:26 PM**

What is BSB? Is that a baseball acronym I am forgetting...

or Back Street Boys?

*BRAVO* · #**2008** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 8:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by quattordici

Plans revived for $7M apartment complex by UAB

By Ryan Poe
Birmingham Biz Journal
LINK

I noticed this the other day. Excellent corner for a complex. I hope they hug the corner and don't have parking out front.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2009** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 8:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by *BRAVO*

What is BSB? Is that a baseball acronym I am forgetting...

or Back Street Boys?

I was wondering the same thing... Barely Seems Beneficial? Bark for Salmon Burgers? Barons See Buildings? Barely Seems Bearable? Back Soon B****!? Birmingham's Sullen Building?

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2010** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 8:57 PM**

Today's turning into a reasonably busy day for new in Alabama...

Birmingham named a top market for construction job growth

By Ryan Poe
Birmingham Biz Journal
LINK

Quote:

Metro Birmingham added 3,000 construction jobs between June and the same month a year ago, making it No. 22 in the country for construction job growth, according to a new report.

The number of construction jobs in the metro rose 12 percent to 27,800 in June from 24,800 in June 2012, the Associated General Contractors of America reported today.

That growth rate makes the metro 22nd of 338 U.S. metros for construction job growth, with No. 1 being the best rank, the report said.

Birmingham's rate is also higher than any other metro in Alabama, including the two metros with the next highest growth rates: Mobile (5 percent) and Dothan (3 percent).

Statewide, the number of Alabama construction, mining and logging jobs rose 2 percent in June to 94,300 from 92,600 in June 2012, the report said.

This is pretty good news considering that construction jobs in Birmingham and the entire state have been kind of stagnant. Good news, though; things like this are starting to corroborate what we've been hearing about the city being on the upswing.

Tourian · #**2011** Posted **Jul 30, 2013, 10:47 PM**

I was thinking Bring Some Bitches.

*BRAVO* · #**2012** Posted **Jul 31, 2013, 12:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tourian

I was thinking Bring Some Bitches.

That's the one !

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2013** Posted **Jul 31, 2013, 12:30 AM**

Bring Some Bitches Complex.... Ding ding ding! Just because of that, maybe we should all go vote for it. Ether way, the retirement community/funeral home "Horizon Point" will inevitably win.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2014** Posted **Jul 31, 2013, 7:00 PM**

Trinity Medical Center to become Grandview Medical Center when it moves to U.S. 280

By Stan Diel
AL.com
LINK

Quote:

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – When it moves from its Montclair Road campus to its new building on U.S. 280 in early 2016, Trinity Medical Center will be rebranded as Grandview Medical Center, hospital executives said today.

The name is a nod to the Grandview campus where the unfinished HealthSouth hospital is located, along with the corporate headquarters for Daniel Corp. and HealthSouth Corp.
trinlogo.jpgThe hospital's new logo. (Special)

“Grandview is a great name for this facility,” Gov. Robert Bentley told executives and hospital leaders who gathered for the unveiling of the hospital’s new name and logo.

“I’m so sorry that this has taken so long,” Bentley said of a protracted, four-year fight over the plan. “But this is going to be worth waiting for.”

..................

Those hospitals tried to block Trinity’s move in hearings before state regulators and then in court after regulators approved the relocation. After Trinity got a favorable ruling from the state court of civil appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court declined to hear the case in May of this year, clearing the way for the move.

The new hospital will have a significant economic impact, creating thousands of construction jobs and spinning off permanent new jobs related to other growth on the campus, said Charlie Tickle, CEO of developer Daniel Corp. Daniel Corp. bought the unfinished hospital from HealthSouth after that company’s billion-dollar accounting scandal came to light, and it sold the building and surrounding land to Trinity for $37.6 million in June.
tringovb.jpgGov. Robert Bentley

Plans call for medical office buildings, retail development and a hotel to be built on the campus.

..........

Birmingham Mayor William Bell was scheduled to speak, but was instead in Washington, D.C., to address Congress regarding the 50th anniversary of the civil rights events of 1963. In a prepared statement, Bell predicted that the hospital will have a "massive economic impact" for the city.

Trinity will spend about $300 million to complete construction of the mothballed hospital. Brasfield & Gorrie and A.G. Gaston Construction will manage construction.

With this development coming in, JeffCo and Shelby are going to have to take a serious look at stretching a BRT or light rail line along 280 from downtown to somewhere south of this campus... Keeping the 280 traffic/transit situation as it is simply won't work anymore in a few years.

Tourian · #**2015** Posted **Aug 1, 2013, 4:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by quattordici

With this development coming in, JeffCo and Shelby are going to have to take a serious look at stretching a BRT or light rail line along 280 from downtown to somewhere south of this campus... Keeping the 280 traffic/transit situation as it is simply won't work anymore in a few years.

Indeed. In the short term a couple of ideas I heard from elsewhere is that they are going to have to widen and develop Cahaba River Road so that there is a partial alternative to 280 on the other side. And that they should build a sheltered pedestrian corridor to connect the campus and possibly even go over 280. In short, no one is going to want to get in their car and risk losing a good spot just to take 15 min to cross the street or go a block or two for lunch. And no one will want to walk in the heat or rain.

But yes, a light rail from there to UaB to uptown for instance would be awesome.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2016** Posted **Aug 1, 2013, 6:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tourian

Indeed. In the short term a couple of ideas I heard from elsewhere is that they are going to have to widen and develop Cahaba River Road so that there is a partial alternative to 280 on the other side. And that they should build a sheltered pedestrian corridor to connect the campus and possibly even go over 280. In short, no one is going to want to get in their car and risk losing a good spot just to take 15 min to cross the street or go a block or two for lunch. And no one will want to walk in the heat or rain.

But yes, a light rail from there to UaB to uptown for instance would be awesome.

Honestly, though, there really aren't any alternatives. 280, even with the ongoing improvements will be WAY over capacity by the time Grandview is finished.

If the regional planning organization and MPO are smart, they'll start designing a BRT or LRT line soon. Once Grandview is finished, 280 will be gnawing its way toward Atlanta's downtown connector.

I am seriously starting to worry. 280 is about to be one of the country's most endangered (as if it already wasn't) thoroughfares.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2017** Posted **Aug 2, 2013, 8:23 PM**

Lately, it seems like downtown residential development has been kind of slow (relatively); Ryan Poe at the Bham Biz Journal today detailed some of the metro area's residential projects that are currently in the pipes.

Here's a look at Birmingham's apartment pipeline

By Ryan Poe
Birmingham Biz Journal
LINK

Quote:

Don't let the slow stream of recent apartment development announcements fool you – the project pipeline is full.

With interest rates on the rise, rental units are looking increasingly like the safe bet. And as larger markets become crowded with developers, more are beginning to eye secondary markets like Birmingham.

Some of these deals are far from cemented, but here's a preview of what's coming:

-I confirmed this week that Dick Schmalz – who broke away from Retail Specialists to start his own firm, RGS Properties Inc. – is planning to convert the Firestone Building at 230 20th St. S. into apartments and possibly retail space. Plans could even include a grocery store, Schmalz told me. According to a flyer about the mixed-use development, the building will have 30 units.
-Harbert Realty Services Inc. is working with Atlanta-based apartment developer Cortland Partners to find a site in Five Points South for a new complex. This is still very preliminary, but I've confirmed through multiple sources that it's in the works.
-A group of developers out of Arkansas are very close to buying Leer Tower and turning it into apartments, according to multiple sources. I suspect developers will be after historic redevelopment tax credits.
-Another apartment complex – a big one – is in the works close to Railroad ParK. I should have more details on this complex soon.
-U.S. Bank has foreclosed on the vacant block at 3400 Clairmont Ave. and is in talks with multiple apartment developers for the site, which was originally slated for a $35 million complex.
-Construction has begun on a 60-unit, $6.6 million complex, University Flats, near the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
-The developer of a 275-unit complex in Pelham, Todd Bond, elaborated on his plans this week.

I really hope the Leer Tower project happens. That building would make a fantastic apartment or condo building. It would be the largest project in downtown since City Federal.

I'm really interested in what he said about a development near Railroad Park.

Tourian · #**2018** Posted **Aug 2, 2013, 8:48 PM**

I still don't get why there isn't a market square of some sort down there or at least announced. A grocery store, a drugstore and then a place where people can hand wash or drive their cars through an automatic wash. After that put in a five or ten screen theatre and then just count your money.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**2019** Posted **Aug 2, 2013, 9:43 PM**

Well, as the article said, the old firestone building could potential be a future home to a grocery store.

It surprises me that we've had some developers locally say that there isn't enough demand for a grocery store in downtown, despite the relatively high residential population. I mean, if developers in Huntsville believe a Publix can be successful in downtown, I see no reason why a grocery store could be successful in downtown Birmingham.

TimCity2000 · #**2020** Posted **Aug 2, 2013, 9:49 PM**

i really hope that apartment complex near railroad park is separate from the two we already know about... that area is just exploding!