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Alabama Power Co. is preparing its former steam plant for redevelopment across from Railroad Park. / Birmingham Business Alliance
The magic is back in Birmingham Over the last five years, Alabama’s largest city has experienced a historic uptick in development, and if all goes to plan, the trend will continue.
By RICHARD MASSEY Managing Editor
tion. Buoyed by companies like Steris, CMC Steel, Evonik, and Oxford Pharmaceuticals, Birmingham doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. And architects are feeling it – the good times are back again. “Most firms are between busy and exceedingly busy,” says Bruce Herrington, founder and presi- dent of Herrington Architects PC (Birmingham, AL). Asked about the difference between now and the recession, when Birmingham’s home county, Jef- ferson County, went bankrupt, and when private development all but stopped and firms were sur- viving on government contracts, Herrington says, “Night and day.” Herrington’s firm won the contract to design the $35-million Hill Student Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which opened in Janu- ary. In his work with the city, Herrington is assist- ing with the evaluation of an eco-district/innova-
T he massive redevelopment in Birmingham, known as the Magic City, has reignited civic pride, created a real estate rush, and has put a lot of architectural firms to work designing historic ret- rofits, new multifamily residential complexes, and an array of commercial spaces. As the tides of design and construction continue to lap against the shores of Alabama’s largest city, an- other proposed project – an eco-innovation district as large as 50 city blocks – could, if approved, usher in another round of real estate development, with project values as much as $30 million. Along with local firms, Birmingham has attract- ed designers from Atlanta, Florida, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Texas, and ranging in size from boutique to global. Birmingham is a good place to do business, too, as recognized by Global Trade Magazine , which recently named the city one of the top Economic Development Corporations in the na-
THE ZWEIG LETTER April 4,
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