Birmingham Development News

[SpawnOfVulcan]

that's what I'm sayin!! What's sad is that the only cities that are really investing in their higher education to better the system, and increase employment/students are Birmingham, Huntsville and... Decatur. Don't understand how the latter popped up. Anyways, it surprises me how little you hear of cities like Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Mobile and Montgomery investing more in the universities. Maybe it's happening and I just don't hear about it.

[| BRAVO |]

Another aspect that bothers me is it seems most of Alabama's recent development is driven by foreign investment... do we really think a foreign entity will look out for our best interest?
I guess we should just take it however we can it

[dfwtiger]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Another aspect that bothers me is it seems most of Alabama's recent development is driven by foreign investment... do we really think a foreign entity will look out for our best interest?
I guess we should just take it however we can it

I agree. Perhaps it is time for a change in Montgomery. Thanks for the investment up to this point. However, I believe that we should invest locally first. If we are doing it right and end up with 5 or so wold class resarch facilities...Huntsville in the North...UAB Central...UAT West....Auburn East...and USA South...then the global investment will want to be here...with the research facilities serving as the incentive.

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

Definitely. I shot 1,499 photos. Spent last night selecting the best shots (eliminated about 1/3) and will be busy editing those pics this week to share in the forum ASAP.

For those who may be interested, I've begun posting my Chicago pics over in the My City Photos section (five-part series so far with more pics to come).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[Bogue]

Tuscaloosa & Auburn don't really HAVE to spend money on their schools for them to do well. Both schools are doing well in terms of their rankings against other public schools & each have raised over $500,000,000 (a Billion, altogether) in their latest capital campaigns. This during an economic downturn. That money isn't including athletics donations (usually kept seperate) which have also rolled in to each school's respective coffers.

[dfwtiger]

Originally Posted by Bogue

Tuscaloosa & Auburn don't really HAVE to spend money on their schools for them to do well. Both schools are doing well in terms of their rankings against other public schools & each have raised over $500,000,000 (a Billion, altogether) in their latest capital campaigns. This during an economic downturn. That money isn't including athletics donations (usually kept seperate) which have also rolled in to each school's respective coffers.

Until Auburn and Alabama are ranked in the top 20 of research universities in the world...then the state is not putting forth their best effort. If the state can court companies from other parts of the world...then they can invest more in state schools. I would imagine that UAT would push the issue of investment at UAB...via the state......seeing that UAB brings in a good bit of money for the UAT campus.

[| BRAVO |]

I read today that Leer Tower is in foreclosure and for sale for $2 million. The owner hopes to be able to repurchase the property in order to move forward with his investment. Oh well.

[| BRAVO |]

The Five Points Merchants Association launched its new website today:

www.5pointssouth.us

[LSyd]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

I read today that Leer Tower is in foreclosure and for sale for $2 million. The owner hopes to be able to repurchase the property in order to move forward with his investment. Oh well.

shouldn't have wasted money on a crappy sign

-

[Blazer85]

Developers update ONB leaders on downtown projects
Birmingham Business Journal - by Lauren B. Cooper Staff

Developers presented updates on three major projects in downtown Birmingham Thursday morning at Operation New Birmingham's monthly meeting.

Construction on the new $52 million, 255-room Marriott Renaissance hotel in the former Regions Financial Corp. headquarters should begin by early October, said Harry Lynch, president of the hotel's developer Harbert Realty Services.

Lynch said plans for the hotel are about 50 percent complete, which should allow the company to gather pricing information and move forward with construction this fall.

Regions employees have moved out of the building and the remaining furniture is close to being fully moved out, he said.

Harbert currently is soliciting a steak house for the first floor of the hotel and a gym for the fourth floor. Starbucks will open a location in the lobby.

Birmingham's Railroad Reservation Park is scheduled to open by summer 2009, said HB Brantley, who's firm is handling construction management for the $30 million project.

Developers of the long-awaited park presented renderings to the group, including plans for an amphitheater, restaurant and retail area.

And about 1,400 of the 2,000 employees of the Social Security Administration in Birmingham have moved into its new headquarters near Interstates 65 and 20/50, said the deputy director of the SSA. Move-in should be complete by August.

Operation New Birmingham President Michael Calvert said his organization has been working with the SSA building's developer-contractor, Opus South Corp., on other redevelopment projects in that area.

[Bogue]

seeing that UAB brings in a good bit of money for the UA campus.

If anything, it's the other way around. UAB's a great school on its own, as is the Capstone, but the UA proper doesn't require money from either of its satellite campus'. They just raised half a billion dollars for campus improvements at the Capstone and the capital campaign is still well shy of its conclusion next year. Why would they need UAB's money?

As for being a top 20 research institution... that's a fine goal for UAB, and I'm sure that the UA system pushes for as much money as it can get from the state each budget cycle for itself and for its satellite campus', but it's unreasonable to expect both the UA and AU to get into the top 20 "in the world", as there are an awful lot of universities on the planet. Being a top 10 public institution in the US is in and of itself a great designation and a far more reasonable (though lofty) goal. That's where North Carolina, etc. are. Getting just ONE of the three schools we've mentioned into that area would be a phenomenal achievement for the state.

[| BRAVO |]

Originally Posted by dfwtiger

seeing that UAB brings in a good bit of money for the UAT campus.

I would think each campus is self-sustaining...

Where are you Bogue?

[| BRAVO |]

This explains the slow down in construction.

Birmingham's Railroad Park organizers say they're near a deal with railroad
Railroad Park planners near deal with railroad
Friday, July 25, 2008
MICHAEL TOMBERLIN
News staff writer

Organizers of the Railroad Park said Thursday they are very near a deal with Norfolk Southern over rights to critical property in the proposed $35 million project, an agreement that would ramp up development plans and free up pursuit of proposed park events such as City Stages.

The railroad company has laid claim to a strip of up to 90 feet of land that runs out from the railroad tracks and the four-block length of the park. The park property is between the tracks and First Avenue South between 14th and 18th Streets.

That swath of land is vital to the overall design of the 20-acre park, according to Tom Leader, principal with San Francisco-based Tom Leader Studio and lead designer of the park.

Also important, he said Thursday, is being close to the railroad itself, which helps give the park added life and power.

"The realness of the rail is most critical," said Leader, who made a presentation Thursday at an Operation New Birmingham meeting.

Three railroads raised ownership rights over the property earlier this year and the city of Birmingham filed a condemnation suit over the property against them. Two of them dropped out of the dispute and only Norfolk Southern remains a party in the case, which has been referred to the Surface Transportation Board.

A deal would negate that lawsuit and remove the final question mark over the park, which is set to be complete in the summer of 2009, according to planners.

Leader said he envisions the park being the go-to location for outdoor events. Park organizers have held preliminary discussions with City Stages about shifting the annual music festival from Linn Park and the financial district to the Railroad Park and surrounding sites.

`A viable option':

Guy McCullough, marketing director for City Stages, confirmed the talks and said officials with the festival are open to the possibility of moving.

"That does seem like a viable option," he said. "It could be a logical thing if other factors are in place."

The Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil was once held on the park site and is being pursued for a return. The Southern Heritage Festival held its event at the site two years ago before moving to the Civil Rights District and Kelly Ingram Park last year. That event also is being recruited to return.

In addition to terraces, walkways, a lake and other natural amenities, the park is set to include elevated walkways at level of the train tracks (known as the "Railtrail"), a restaurant and market area and an amphitheater.

The amphitheater will have fixed seating for 1,000, canopy and lawn seating for 2,000 and open-air seating for 2,000 more. There will even be VIP seating areas between the lake and the stage, according to the latest designs from Birmingham's HKW Associates.

There will be terraced park stages with a Greek theater for up to 300, a children's theater for up to 600 and a bluegrass theater for up to 1,000.

A restaurant and emporium designed by Birmingham's Giattina Aycock Architecture Studio will have a glassed-in restaurant space and a large covered area that could be used for a number of events such as a farmer's market, corporate receptions or weddings.

Developing the entire project will cost around $35 million. The city of Birmingham and the nonprofit Railroad Park Foundation are the lead partners on the project.

So far, public city, county and federal funds committed total $12.5 million. The Greater Birmingham Community Foundation has put up another $8.4 million.

Organizers are trying to raise an additional $9.1 million, which includes $5 million in matching funds Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has pledged for the amphitheater.

E-mail: mtomberlin@bhamnews.com

[SpawnOfVulcan]

^^^ I hope that whole problem gets worked out. Having a hitch in this would really hender progress in that part of downtown.

[| BRAVO |]

Funny this article comes out a week after our discussions...


http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnew...l=2&thispage=1

[dfwtiger]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Funny this article comes out a week after our discussions...


http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnew...l=2&thispage=1

Of course...we are getting beat right now. Of course, this is an area where the state could help...instead...they cut funding to higher education.

As to your other comment....UAT is not the major research campus. Research brings in a huge amount of money....with 20% or so taken off the top of a grant for overhead. Huntsville and Birmingham bring in a large amount of money to the Alabama system. If UAT could stand on its own.....I belive UAB would have become University of Birmingham long ago.

However, this is a good system for Alabama...it allows the UAT campus to take a traditional role of university learning...the classics....along with engineering and so on with the speacialized campuses of Huntsville and Birmingham serving as the work horses of the system.

It would be interesting to see the dollar for dollar return of state money if they spent as much on UAB...or whoever....as they spent on TK in South Alabama.

[| BRAVO |]

Originally Posted by dfwtiger

As to your other comment....UAT is not the major research campus. Research brings in a huge amount of money....with 20% or so taken off the top of a grant for overhead. Huntsville and Birmingham bring in a large amount of money to the Alabama system. If UAT could stand on its own.....I belive UAB would have become University of Birmingham long ago.

This was Bogue's comment.

[Bogue]

I think you underestimate the long-term impact of a project like ThyssenKrupp while wildly overestimating the importance of UAB to the state. It's incredibly important to Birmingham, no doubt, but it has little to no effect at all on much of the state... in much the same way that ThyssenKrupp has little to no effect on B'ham.

Most state flagship universities have satellite campus'. UNC has several, Texas has several, Cal has several, etc. That doesn't equate to the others as being more involved w/ research than the original campus. I think you'd be surprised at the amt. of research done on UA's primary campus & I think you're allowing affection for an athletics program to blind you to reality. Your use of a term UA people find derogatory is a clear indication of that.

Where are you Bogue?

I live in Birmingham for now, but I'm a Gulflander. I'll be going back there as soon as I finish school next year. As such, I tend to use expressions that are a bit ambiguous (like saying "around here" in both places). Sorry if that's confusing. I like it here. Some really nice folks, some cool places, and some interesting history, but it's not home & never will be. I would be saying the same thing if I were pretty much anywhere else, though.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by dfwtiger

Of course...we are getting beat right now. Of course, this is an area where the state could help...instead...they cut funding to higher education.

As to your other comment....UAT is not the major research campus. Research brings in a huge amount of money....with 20% or so taken off the top of a grant for overhead. Huntsville and Birmingham bring in a large amount of money to the Alabama system. If UAT could stand on its own.....I belive UAB would have become University of Birmingham long ago.

However, this is a good system for Alabama...it allows the UAT campus to take a traditional role of university learning...the classics....along with engineering and so on with the speacialized campuses of Huntsville and Birmingham serving as the work horses of the system.

It would be interesting to see the dollar for dollar return of state money if they spent as much on UAB...or whoever....as they spent on TK in South Alabama.

Amazingly, I agree with you. Though, it gets kinda of old reading UAT over and over and over again.

I think you're right on with that second to last paragraphy. Engineering and the other subjects that make up the larger part of the Alabama campus don't bring in the type of money that bio research does in Birmingham.

[| BRAVO |]

Originally Posted by Bogue

I live in Birmingham for now, but I'm a Gulflander. I'll be going back there as soon as I finish school next year. As such, I tend to use expressions that are a bit ambiguous (like saying "around here" in both places). Sorry if that's confusing. I like it here. Some really nice folks, some cool places, and some interesting history, but it's not home & never will be. I would be saying the same thing if I were pretty much anywhere else, though.

I can certainly appreciate that... there's definately no place like home. I was in Atlanta several years but wanted to move back home. I hope you enjoy your time in Birmingham. Is "Bogue" any reference to the restaurant on Clairmont?

Originally Posted by Bogue

I think you underestimate the long-term impact of a project like ThyssenKrupp while wildly overestimating the importance of UAB to the state. It's incredibly important to Birmingham, no doubt, but it has little to no effect at all on much of the state... in much the same way that ThyssenKrupp has little to no effect on B'ham.

I don't think I underestimate the long-term impact of a project like TK. It's going to be a boom for Mobile and will have a positive effect on the entire region - heck, it will have an impact on the entire state.

I have to disagree with overestimating the importance of UAB to the state. UAB, both the university and the hospital, radiate throughout the state.
- Ask my father-in-law in Dothan who makes quarterly trips to UAB for his heart condition
- Ask my neighbor who moved here from Huntsville to take a job at UAB
- Ask my friend who relocated here from Baltimore to work for a top researcher searching for a cure to Diabetes
- My wife's job is dependent on UAB
- My job is partly dependent

So... NO, I don't believe we wildly overestimate the importance of UAB. I guess some of us in Birmingham feel we've been there... done that... got the t-shirt when it comes to the steel industry. Birmingham citizens pulled together after the steel industry left town in the 60's and 70's to build UAB into the successful urban university we have today. Alabama is better because of it.