THE MAGIC CITY
Birmingham Market Analysis
1901 SIXTH AVENUE
AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL
Birmingham, Alabama is the largest city in the state of Alabama and serves as a major business center in the Southeast. The city offers its residents a wonderful quality of life, low cost of living, and desirable business climate.
Location
Birmingham is situated at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains; the city is centrally located in the southeast and easily accessible to all major hubs in the region. Birmingham is a medical research, banking and service-based economy with a host of amenities, attractive cost of living and doing business, and a vibrant downtown lifestyle. The Birmingham-Hoover MSA consists of seven counties encompassing 5,332 square miles and a population of over 1.1 million residents. The Birmingham-Hoover MSA is the 13th largest MSA among southeastern metro areas and ranks 49th in the nation measured by population.
| Location | Miles from Site | Time |
|---|---|---|
| BHM Airport | 5.4 | 10 |
| Mountain Brook | 4.3 | 11 |
| Homewood | 4.0 | 11 |
| Vestavia Hills | 6.5 | 15 |
| Hoover | 10.4 | 19 |
Birmingham Overview
Over the past few years, Downtown Birmingham has seen many revitalization projects, including renovations of historic Birmingham treasures and brand new developments. With approximately $600 million in planned projects, the “magic” has certainly returned to The Magic City.
ATTRACTIONS
- Regions Field attracted more that 444,000 fans last season
- Alabama Theatre attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year
- The McWane Center brings over 300,000 visitors annually
- Railroad Park offers convenient and scenic walking paths within a few blocks of the site
- BJCC draws over 1.2 million visitors and offers over 1000 events annually
- With high quality hotel accommodations such as the Westin Hotel at Uptown, The Sheraton by the BJCC and the newly renovated Redmont Hotel all within walking distance, lodging for clients/visitors is a breeze.
Area Accolades
Regions Field named America’s Best Double-A Ballpark
– Baseball America, Ballparkdigest.com, 2015
Railroad Park named one of the 10 best parks that help revive their city
– USA Today, April 2015
Railroad Park won the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Open Space Award in 2012 (beating out parks like High Line Park in NYC).
The new Westin Hotel adjacent to the Birmingham Jefferson County Convention Center complete with a 50,000 square foot zone of restaurants, nightclubs and retail is known as “Uptown” and includes approximately $80mm in investment activity.
Westin Hotel named one of the top 3 hotels in Alabama
– US News and World Report
The Lyric Theater, a distinctive historical theater built in 1914, has been completely restored to its original glory, making it one of the few existing, intact Vaudeville Theaters remaining in the US
Birmingham ranks #1 Zagat’s ‘Next Hot Food City’ List
Completion of a massive expansion to Children’s Hospital ($435mm investment) that connects to the $135mm Women’s & Infant center was completed in 2010.
The Rotary Trail opened in May 2016 and connects downtown Birmingham to Sloss furnace. The extended path of the trail goes past Midtown Center and connects to both Railroad Park and Regions Park.
Publix is opening in 2016 beneath 20 Midtown development (100 Apartment units, 9,200 sf retail)
UAB Information
UAB is the home to the 4th largest academic medical center in the U.S. With a 2022 enrollment of 22,000 students and employee count of over 23,000, the University of Alabama in Birmingham is a huge demand driver in the downtown market. The college encompasses 83 downtown city blocks in metropolitan Birmingham. UAB’s University Hospital is also the largest public hospital in the nation.
UAB LONG RANGE VISION – FUTURE PLAN FOR EXPANSION
UAB’s 2020 Master Plan includes increasing undergraduate enrollment from roughly 11,000 to nearly 17,000 students, moving athletic facilities east of I-65, and creating a greenspace corridor from the UAB Campus Green north to Railroad Park, among other things.
Railroad Park / Regions Field
Regions Park ($65 mm investment) completed in early 2013 is home to the Birmingham Barons baseball team. The baseball park has significantly enhanced the recreational venues and visitors to Downtown Birmingham creating a new vibrancy in the City.
Railroad Park ($25mm investment), “Birmingham’s new outdoor living room” is a 19 acres green space with a natural amphitheater opened in fall of 2010, contributing to Downtown energy.
