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Old 08-09-2019, 03:47 PM
 
Location: Birmingham, AL
2,449 posts, read 2,236,780 times
Reputation: 1059

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bfmx1 View Post
Btw, how's that RSA tower in Mobile doing? I was always kinda surprised that got approved and built. I don't see Mobile as being a city that can support that. It was David Bronner's pride and joy when he was over the RSA but I'm unsure about the financial feasability. I was so mad when I learned they were building taller than Bham. Yep it's a pride thing. Stupid Mobile and their "mardi gras started here" mantra. No offense but seriously ha.
yeah, i think a lot of us regretted that it got built in mobile.

RSA seems to favor montgomery and points southward.

still, it's a nice building for the state. other pretty prominent states don't have a building that tall. i HATE that they added that matching crown to the building (hotel?) next door though... that just looks ridiculous.
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Old 08-09-2019, 04:00 PM
 
Location: Madison, Alabama
12,990 posts, read 9,516,147 times
Reputation: 8966
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimCity2000 View Post
yeah, i think a lot of us regretted that it got built in mobile.

RSA seems to favor montgomery and points southward.

still, it's a nice building for the state. other pretty prominent states don't have a building that tall. i HATE that they added that matching crown to the building (hotel?) next door though... that just looks ridiculous.
I don't know that we "regret" building it in Mobile, but I do have to wonder why it was built there. Does B'ham have an RSA building of any kind? There's not one in Huntsville that I know of. Montgomery has a modest one (relative to the one in Mobile). RSA even owns a skyscraper in Manhattan.

I agree about the spire/crown/whatever it's called. I don't think it looks good even on the RSA building, let alone the building next door. All in all though, Mobile has a decent looking skyline for a town its size. Huntsville doesn't even have a skyline.
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Old 08-09-2019, 04:05 PM
 
Location: Madison, Alabama
12,990 posts, read 9,516,147 times
Reputation: 8966
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfmx1 View Post
I've been a long-time reader of skyscraperpage.com and the general consensus is that a building has to be 500ft to be considered a skyscraper, thus it's hard to call something a "skyline" without a skyscraper.

I think the new bridges will be quite a bit taller than the old right? If anything this will hurt the "skyline" because it will compete with the building height. I'm not saying it will "dwarf" the two tallest, but the higher the roads are, the shorter the buildings appear.

Great skylines in the US are (IMO)
Manhattan
Chicago
LA
San Fran
Dallas
Houston
Austin
ATL
Charlotte
Denver
Minneapolis
Philly
Pittsburge
Miami

I'm sure I forgot a few.

All of those have multiple buildings over 500, 700, and some over 1000 feet.

Birmingham's tallest building is the old SouthTrust building (Shipt now) and it's like 450 feet. Shorter than Mobile and would pretty much be considered a midrise in the cities mentioned above.
You might want to add Nashville to your list. They have quite a few taller buildings existing and in the works. That place is growing like a weed but remains a nice place to visit and probably not a bad place to live (albeit pretty expensive compared to the rest of the Southeast). Also toss in Seattle.

A couple of fairly large towns without a decent skyline are Memphis and St. Louis.
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Old 08-09-2019, 07:44 PM
 
Location: Birmingham, AL
2,449 posts, read 2,236,780 times
Reputation: 1059
Quote:
Originally Posted by RocketDawg View Post
I don't know that we "regret" building it in Mobile, but I do have to wonder why it was built there. Does B'ham have an RSA building of any kind? There's not one in Huntsville that I know of. Montgomery has a modest one (relative to the one in Mobile). RSA even owns a skyscraper in Manhattan.

I agree about the spire/crown/whatever it's called. I don't think it looks good even on the RSA building, let alone the building next door. All in all though, Mobile has a decent looking skyline for a town its size. Huntsville doesn't even have a skyline.
birmingham does not have an RSA building that i know of either.

montgomery's is actually their tallest.

mobile's does stick out... in that regard, it reminds me of OKC's tallest. a whopping 850 feet i believe. it looks insane in that skyline.
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Old 08-09-2019, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Birmingham, AL
2,449 posts, read 2,236,780 times
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here is a rundown of buildings (mostly residential) 5+ stories currently under construction in the city... not bad, but not exactly "epic":


















(i didn't include existing buildings over 5 stories being renovated... there are a handful of those as well)

((also didn't include UAB's new dorm... couldn't find a rendering))

Last edited by TimCity2000; 08-09-2019 at 08:04 PM..
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Old 08-10-2019, 04:50 AM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,002 posts, read 9,164,340 times
Reputation: 1959
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfmx1 View Post
Btw, how's that RSA tower in Mobile doing? I was always kinda surprised that got approved and built. I don't see Mobile as being a city that can support that. It was David Bronner's pride and joy when he was over the RSA but I'm unsure about the financial feasability. I was so mad when I learned they were building taller than Bham. Yep it's a pride thing. Stupid Mobile and their "mardi gras started here" mantra. No offense but seriously ha.
It has remained over 90 % leased since it's opening. And it had nothing to do with Mardi Gras man lol. Even with the tallest Bham still has the more dynamic skyline. FYI Mobile's 424 foot Trust Mark building was built in 1965 and was Alabama's tallest until 1986.Thats when Bham's Wells Fargo tower was constructed. My favorite tower in the state before the Battle House Tower was constructed has always been the Harbert Plaza.
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Old 08-10-2019, 06:46 AM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,002 posts, read 9,164,340 times
Reputation: 1959
It's currently at 96.4 % occupancy and has never dipped below 90%.So I doubt that there has been any regrets.Hopefuly RSA will see it's occupancy success and build another tower that's 400 + feet.

https://battlehouse.mritenantconnect.com/node/13

I think RSA will eventually invest into Bham soon.
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Old 08-10-2019, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Madison, Alabama
12,990 posts, read 9,516,147 times
Reputation: 8966
Quote:
Originally Posted by _OT View Post
Don’t need one.

Skylines look nice from afar, or for pictures. But ground level building density is much more important imo. Birmingham’s growth in that area, especially in Parkside, looks way more impressive.

I’m sure Charlottes skyline and skyscrapers looks awesome, but compare the ground level density to a city like Portland, and it doesn’t even come close.
The first time I drove through Charlotte, which was around 1970, they had one really tall building that was dominating, kinda like the RSA buidling in Mobile. You could see it for many miles approaching the city. That's not the case any more since Charlotte has gotten much larger, essentially tripling population, since then.

I've never understood why North Carolina has grown so much and some other southern states, particularly Alabama, has remained pretty much the same. What did they do to attract so many people and industries?
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Old 08-10-2019, 09:27 AM
 
Location: Birmingham, AL
2,449 posts, read 2,236,780 times
Reputation: 1059
Good to hear the RSA tower is doing well in Mobile.

The one in Montgomery is likely pretty full too since it has a lot of government offices (ADPH for instance).

As for Birmingham... I think our best tower is actually Regions. Sleek and still modern. Wells Fargo (soon to be Shipt) just looks dated. Harbert is straight outta the 80s but still has some unique elements (pyramid roof, those 4 “balls”, etc) that give it some appeal. AT&T is cool too. And of course, what’s not to love about City Federal? Wish we could fill in the gap between it and the “big four” with another tower or two.
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Old 08-10-2019, 01:42 PM
 
Location: 35203
2,099 posts, read 2,171,976 times
Reputation: 771
https://www.reddit.com/r/Birmingham/...ree_cityagain/

https://i.redd.it/29zklh1cs6b31.jpg

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhElU37F...d=wn7eqa7yux4v

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfCj1TXF...d=1h4tnf0uvwy0

World Games 2021 host city

Last edited by mcalumni01; 08-10-2019 at 01:54 PM..
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