New or upcoming projects in the Birmingham Metro Area (live, designs)

[bhamoutlook]

I wasn't really disappointed by this cancellation of plans either. I felt as if something had to give somewhere. I'm really hoping that all of these new construction projects will leave room for the historic renovations. I would not want to lose the renovation on TJ Tower or Pizitz.

I'm thinking that someone might want to start considering some construction that's a little less expensive. From the report that I read, David Oakley is suggesting that these rents are going to be around $2.00 per square foot. If the average new one bedroom apartment is 700 sq ft, that's going to put rents starting around $1400.00. YIKES! Although I think there's plenty of room in the market for this, I also think they some lower end options should be considered as well.

[bhamoutlook]

Another note: Why do we keep using all of this red brick on things in Birmingham???

I'm hoping we'll start to get away from that and start seeing more glass/modern looking structures.

I drove past the VA development today and saw the rendering on the sign. It looked like all brick. Still excited about the project though.

[Tourian]

UAB and Southside are all about the red brick. I was under the impression Parkside would look very different.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by urbanspacesbham

Another note: Why do we keep using all of this red brick on things in Birmingham???

I'm hoping we'll start to get away from that and start seeing more glass/modern looking structures.

I drove past the VA development today and saw the rendering on the sign. It looked like all brick. Still excited about the project though.

I'm not a fan of glass towers. What we think looks modern tends to look dated in a hurry. And glass towers tend to be just boxes.

[steveklein]

Building apartments and restaurants and parks is all well and good, but Birmingham really needs to land a big job creator to truly get the city moving forward. New jobs bring in new money. Apartments in the city core really just reshuffle the wealth from somewhere else in the area.

It would be cool if Birmingham could become the green city of the south. A vertical farm. A Tesla plant (This could actually make sense? To my knowledge their only facility is in California; That's a long way for buyers in the south and east coast to have their cars made.) A solar power company headquartered here, etc, etc...

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Building apartments and restaurants and parks is all well and good, but Birmingham really needs to land a big job creator to truly get the city moving forward. New jobs bring in new money. Apartments in the city core really just reshuffle the wealth from somewhere else in the area.

It would be cool if Birmingham could become the green city of the south. A vertical farm. A Tesla plant (This could actually make sense? To my knowledge their only facility is in California; That's a long way for buyers in the south and east coast to have their cars made.) A solar power company headquartered here, etc, etc...

As for Tesla, I suppose given the difference in labor costs, perhaps its possible. But I doubt it, the plant they are working in is from a previous multi-car company collaboration an is still largely filled with unused capacity. And if you see the number of Tesla drivers in Cali vs here... that's where the market is. Shipping across the US isn't really that uncommon for most car companies.

But the main points are taken: increasing work opportunities would be great, and a lot of opportunities in this "green energy" industry could be possible.

[Tourian]

Aerospace and Biotech research I think should be our focus. I think we have auto assembly covered. Although I would welcome a any automaker that would want to build a plant here, I do not think too highly of Tesla and would rather see a more conventional automaker. Perhaps one that doesn't have a US presence yet, like say Jag/Land Rover. Or just more suppliers for the makers we have now.

[bhamoutlook]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

I'm not a fan of glass towers. What we think looks modern tends to look dated in a hurry. And glass towers tend to be just boxes.

I am a fan of glass towers... Mostly because they don't look dated as easily. I understand what you're saying... That what we think looks modern tends to change quite frequently. However, I tend to find this with "modern brick" structures more than anything. In comparison, if you look at most of UAB, their stuff looks dated. The new buildings that they are working on or have been built in the last few years??? I imagine they will look dated in 10 years as well. Then if you look at Regions-Harbert, also built in the same time frame as UAB, it still looks pretty modern. You can tell it isn't brand new, but it doesn't look near as dated as UAB's buildings.

I just think that starting to build either a more classic look or uber modern would be the way to go.

[steveklein]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but a 2nd phase of University Flats is moving forward

University Flats' second phase will add 57 apartments - Birmingham Business Journal

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by urbanspacesbham

I am a fan of glass towers... Mostly because they don't look dated as easily. I understand what you're saying... That what we think looks modern tends to change quite frequently. However, I tend to find this with "modern brick" structures more than anything. In comparison, if you look at most of UAB, their stuff looks dated. The new buildings that they are working on or have been built in the last few years??? I imagine they will look dated in 10 years as well. Then if you look at Regions-Harbert, also built in the same time frame as UAB, it still looks pretty modern. You can tell it isn't brand new, but it doesn't look near as dated as UAB's buildings.

I just think that starting to build either a more classic look or uber modern would be the way to go.

I get what you are saying, I think if a new tower were built it would not hurt if it had a very modern look, or even some smaller project.

But then I think of how that pedestrian bridge was supposed to look (if it is still going forward) it was so modernistic it stuck out. I think designs like that tend to wear out faster. Plus the rest of downtown really needs to be lit up and look more lively so that if we did get a "Duke Power" style tower or building (I think that's the one that is lit in blue at night), it wouldn't look like something out of Tron or Star Trek just suddenly materialized in the middle of a dark downtown.