Hotel, Apartment Concept Pitched for Downtown ATT Skyscraper
By Brent Godwin – Real Estate Editor, Birmingham Business Journal – Jun 15, 2017, 12:07pm CDT Updated Jun 15, 2017, 12:30pm
A mostly vacant skyscraper in downtown Birmingham could get a new lease on life, as brokers are pitching a mixed-use concept for the building.
Berkadia said today it is marketing the top 18 floors of the 30-floor AT&T City Center building for hotel and residential redevelopment. The building, located at 600 19th St. N., is referred to as “Birmingham City Center” in the marketing materials from Berkadia.
At this time, the marketing materials do not represent an active plan for the building, but show a potential opportunity for a developer.
“Hotel and multifamily developers are invited to purchase two available collections of floors with building amenities to transform the 1972 built office tower into a mixed-use development in the heart of Birmingham’s Central Business District,” the flyer notes. David Oakley is the local contact for the property.
The building was built as headquarters of South Central Bell, then became BellSouth City Center in 1998 and AT&T City Center after an acquisition in 2006.
As recently reported, AT&T said it will move its remaining employees out of the building by 2018. The building consists of 691,177 gross square feet and at 390 feet tall is the third tallest building in the city.
The adaptive mixed-use opportunity suggests that the building could feature retail, office, hotel and apartment space.
One proposed mix for the building shows 163,000 square feet of office space on floors 2 through 10, a 130-room boutique hotel on floors 11 through 14, and 200 residential apartment units on floors 15 and up.
The marketing materials play up the recent changes in Birmingham’s urban core, including a younger workforce and higher demand for downtown residential properties – two factors that are playing a huge role in shaping the city’s development trajectory.
The marketing plan includes updates to public spaces in the building, such as exterior improvements on the lower floors, conference center space, retail or restaurant tenants on the ground floor, and rooftop deck, and even a pocket park.
A feasibility study by LW Hospitality Advisors showed growing demand for hotel rooms in the city suggesting the building could support a Tribute by Marriott or Tapestry by Hilton brand.
If a hotel did come to fruition at the site, it would join two other dual-branded hotel concepts already under construction – a Hilton property in Parkside and a Marriott in the Empire Building.
The summary mentions that a feasibility study for the multifamily opportunity found nearly 45,000 jobs within one mile of the building. It also said there is an expected demand for 911 units of rental housing in the immediate area over the next three years, even as thousands of apartment units have come online in Birmingham in the past couple of years. Apartment units would consist of 1 or 2-bedroom units.
If a developer takes on the project, details and scope of its plans could look different than the Berkadia marketing plans.
But in any form, a redevelopment of the building would represent another huge potential catalyst for further revitalization of downtown Birmingham, which has already seen plenty of commercial real estate activity in the post-Recession years.