Birmingham Discussion Thread

[Sulley]

There was once a Lenny's out on 280, but it closed.

Good Lord, I hate them with the firey passion of one million burning suns. I worked there in high school.

[sleepy]

Anyone ever made the mistake of a Philly cheese steak at Subway?

Uh, well, that's Lenny's.

[Randy Sandford]

I love Fat Sam's too! One sub chain I'd like to see more of in the Birmingham area is Firehouse Subs (currently 3 Over the Mountain locations). Bear Rock Cafe is another favorite sandwich chain, but they no longer list their Wildwood location on their website. Does anyone know if it has closed? I also wish we could get some Le Madeline restaurants (they're scattered all over Atlanta and Dallas).

[Blazer85]

George Wallace Jr is considering a run for Alabama Lt. Governor. Ahh! All I can say is that I hope he's not much like his father.

[Blazer85]

Delta will begin offering service direct to Tampa from Birmingham beginning tomorrow. Always good to see the airport adding new flights. Hopefully once this runway expansion is completed, Birmingham can offer more international flights... heck, we might actually even get a transatlantic flight without having to go through Hartsfield.

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by Blazer85

Delta will begin offering service direct to Tampa from Birmingham beginning tomorrow. Always good to see the airport adding new flights. Hopefully once this runway expansion is completed, Birmingham can offer more international flights... heck, we might actually even get a transatlantic flight without having to go through Hartsfield.

There are no scheduled international flights by the airlines from BHM--only chartered flights. Airlines usually only fly to international destinations (particularly transatlantic and transpacific) from hub airports (they collect passengers from non-hub cities in order to fill up those wide-body jets), so don't count on any such flights originating from Birmingham unless an airline creates a hub here. The main reason BHM can call itself an international airport is because it has customs agents available to process international passengers.

[shortydee999]

What airline doesnt already have a hub??

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by shortydee999

What airline doesnt already have a hub??

Most airlines have mutilple hubs serving different regions of the country with one of those hubs being their primary hub (home base). For Delta, Atlanta is their primary hub, but they also have hubs in Cincinnati and Salt Lake City while Boston, Columbus OH, Dallas/Fort Worth, Ft. Lauderdale, New York, Orlando, and Tampa serve as "focus cities" with large operations (a few of these were once official hubs). Atlanta and New York are Delta's primary international gateways.

Southwest is the only major airline that doesn't rely on the "hub-and-spoke" system.

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

The main reason BHM can call itself an international airport is because it has customs agents available to process international passengers.

BHM also has international airfreight which requires a customs agent.

Originally Posted by shortydee999

What airline doesnt already have a hub??

Southwest. But hub and spoke isn't part of their business model.

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by sleepy

BHM also has international airfreight which requires a customs agent.

True, but since we were discussing passenger flights, I didn't go into that much detail. Even taking that into consideration, I'm not aware of any scheduled international air cargo flights operating from Birmingham at this time.

[Blazer85]

Well part of the reason for the runway expansion was so a fully-loaded 747 could take off and land from BHM. It may have been only taking in mind freight traffic, but I believe there are intentions of luring some international flights direct from BHM.

[D1136]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

True, but since we were discussing passenger flights, I didn't go into that much detail. Even taking that into consideration, I'm not aware of any scheduled international air cargo flights operating from Birmingham at this time.

Not daily scheduled at least. You do have the auto manufacturers flying in items for Mercedes and Honda from overseas. Those, however, are scheduled about a week in advance.

[D1136]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

Bear Rock Cafe is another favorite sandwich chain, but they no longer list their Wildwood location on their website. Does anyone know if it has closed?

The site in Wildwood closed down and CB Eyster is either trying to sell the center or lease the store. Sounds like there was a breakdown in communication causing a falling out between the franchisor and franchisee which caused the franchisee to bail. Besides, the location was not the best nor was it visible from either I-65 or Lakeshore. Unfortunately, visibility or name recognition is a *HUGE* factor in the succes of a food chain. This was Bear Rock's first step into Birmingham and it crashed based on both of those reasons. I did hear, however, they have an interesting tenant in line for it...will give more later if I can confirm it...

[Blazer85]

Chris Patriarca from emporis informed me that he had heard of a proposal for a 6-7 story building north of one of the Mtn Brook villages. Anyone know what he's referring to? Only think I can think of recently was the condo in Liberty Park, but that's not really near Mtn Brook.

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by Blazer85

Chris Patriarca from emporis informed me that he had heard of a proposal for a 6-7 story building north of one of the Mtn Brook villages. Anyone know what he's referring to? Only think I can think of recently was the condo in Liberty Park, but that's not really near Mtn Brook.

He's referring to Sutton Place which was proposed for English Village. I posted this rendering of it on page 2 of the "Birmingham Development News" thread back on April 28:




A week later, Dystopos posted this:

Originally Posted by Dystopos

From Today's News:

"Redmont Park residents fought a similar battle about two years ago. The neighborhood association declined to back plans by Margi Ingram and Bill Thornton to build Sutton Place at 2553 20th Ave. South. The building was to be a high-rise residential structure in the north side of English Village, but it was never built. "

Victoria L. Coman. "Redmont Park neighbors oppose mixed-use building" Birmingham News. May 4, 2005

[Blazer85]

^ Hmm... that's probably it, but he acted like this was a fairly recent development.

[Dystopos]

There was a recent (Dec. 2004) proposal by "Old Realty LLC" for a 6 story condo + office building at 2106/2112 Cahaba Road (across from Arman's) which sparked a minor revolution among some village residents. The proposal was for 40 condo units and one rooftop office suite with 107 enclosed parking spaces on two below-grade levels. The bulk of the proposed building, once it was understood, shocked many residents. As far as I know, the current status is that the the project is on hold and the city has agreed to hire an urban design consultant to revise their nearly toothless "mixed use" zoning.

[Blazer85]

Workshop aims for more restaurants
Monday, June 27, 2005
KELLI HEWETT TAYLOR
News staff writer

The people are here, now it's time to feed them.

Operation New Birmingham is spotlighting the next piece of the downtown improvement puzzle: More downtown restaurants.

Today, the downtown improvement agency is hosting a half-day workshop at The Harbert Center, focusing on starting a restaurant. What's Cookin' Downtown! will feature area and national restaurateurs, who will discuss fostering new restaurants and the roles eateries can play in revitalizing communities.

"I think it's invaluable what a restaurant can bring to a neighborhood," said Ti Brennan Martin, co-owner of the New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, one of that city's top eateries. "But they need a lot of support."

Martin said restaurant owners can't be cut-throat toward each other. They must remember that neighborhood success helps everyone, she said. Residents have to contribute by eating at fledgling restaurants in the area. City and civic leaders need to invest in marketing and promotion.

New downtown restaurants, such as Surin & Co., G, and Cafe Dupont, aren't enough to anchor the community with its influx of residents, Operation New Birmingham leaders say. Nor are there enough to make downtown the dining destination of, say, Five Points South.

"We are very keen on additional restaurants," said Mike Calvert, president of Operation New Birmingham. "This workshop is aimed at attracting people to Five Points and Lakeview, as well as downtown."

Local restaurant impresarios such as Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar & Grill in Five Points South, George Sarris of The Fish Market in Southside and Guillermo Castro of Los Angeles in Lakeview, will share their secrets at the workshop.

Other speakers will discuss the basics of running a restaurant, from health inspections to code details.

"From the influences of people like Frank Stitt in this town, food and wine have grown dramatically over 10 years," said Kevin Moore, general manager of the new Satterfield's restaurant in Cahaba Heights. He plans to attend today's workshop. "I think people enjoy the diversity that is starting to crop up."

Moore said he and owners Tommy and Becky Satterfield want to learn all they can from the successes of others.

Downtown residents say they love the emphasis on more downtown eating choices.

"There was no dining scene 16 years ago," said Virginia Reckoff, a longtime downtown resident. "We all want more choices, and I am definitely in favor of the local and independent restaurants being added to the community. The more variety there is, the better."

For more on the What's Cookin' Downtown! workshop, visit www.yourcitycenter.com.

E-mail: ktaylor@bhamnews.com

[Blazer85]

Any of you Birmingham folks ever heard of this website? Just now stumbled across it.

http://mallbirmingham.com/

[Sulley]

No, I haven't.

In other news...

AmSouth sells its mutual fund division

Tuesday, June 28, 2005
SHERRI C. GOODMAN
News staff writer

Birmingham's AmSouth Bancorp. said Monday it has sold its mutual fund management business.

AmSouth expects a gain of $50 million once the deal with Pioneer Investment Management Inc. is completed.

"Because it has become more difficult and expensive for small mutual fund families to compete effectively, we have decided to focus on the key services that have distinguished our asset management business for the past 80 years," Chief Executive Dowd Ritter said.

AmSouth has 23 mutual funds with $5.5 billion in assets under management. The funds will be merged with Pioneer funds with similar investment objectives and strategies, the bank said.

AmSouth may use the gains for share repurchases, debt repayment or other actions, it said. Only "a couple" of jobs will be affected by the sale because the bank will continue to manage assets for its individual and institutional customers, said spokesman Rick Swagler.

Ritter earlier this year told investors the bank has already bought dozens of sites mainly in Florida and expects to resume building at least 40 branches a year after regulators lift restrictions on its expansion.

AmSouth's expansion plans were put on hold indefinitely as part of a settlement last year with regulators for violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Boston-based Pioneer Investment Management is the U.S. subsidiary of Pioneer Global Asset Management, which operates offices in 16 countries and manages more than $175 billion in assets. It manages 46 mutual funds in the United States.

Shareholders and regulators still must approve the deal.


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Is this a sign that Amsouth might soon be bought out? First the credit card division, now this...