Birmingham City Council Approves Re-Zoning Of Southtown

BIRMINGHAM, AL — One of Birmingham's oldest public housing communities will be re-zoned to make way for a mixed use project. Southtown Court, near St. Vincent's hospital and UAB, formerly home to roughly 1,000 residents, will soon become 850,000 square feet of office and commercial space, with room for retail and restaurants.

The Birmingham City Council Tuesday approved the re-zoning of Southtown Court from multiple dwelling to mixed-use. Of the 445 units in the community, only about 90 are currently in use.

Residents were given the option to return to the site, move to other public housing communities in Birmingham, obtain a Section 8 housing voucher or participate in HABD’s home ownership program.

The Housing Authority of Birmingham Division told the council that 224 families chose the rental voucher program, and others chose to move to Park Place public housing further downtown.

The mixed use project has been in the works for more than three years now, with mixed feelings from locals. Some view the new development as an improvement to a housing community that was in need of repair, while others view it as another example of the gentrification of Birmingham.

The Birmingham City Council and Mayor Randall Woodfin have been heavily involved in the development talks with the Southside Development Co., which is a joint venture involving Birmingham's Corporate Realty, Bayer Properties, Brasfield & Gorrie, A. G. Gaston Construction, SPM Property Management, BREC Development, and the Atlanta-based Benoit Group.

The project consists of:

• A mixed-use district with 459 housing units. 200 of these units would be for public housing
• 850,000 square feet of office and commercial space
• Neighborhood businesses including a grocery store and a junior big box retailer
• 3.5 acres of green space

The council approved another item Tuesday that ties more than 6,000 square feet at 2547 and 2557 Ninth Ave. S. into the property. The developer also requested the accompanying fee of more than $11,000 be waived.