The Briggs Building expansion in downtown Birmingham is a textbook case for how to improve an urban center.
The developer brought new life to a historic building at the corner of Old Woodward Avenue and Maple Road and filled in an adjacent surface parking lot with what promises to be a vibrant mixed-use building in the heart of downtown.
The overall project will add 62,000 square feet of space and 175 parking spaces. Approximately 42,000 square feet of that will be set aside as Class A office space, 10,000 square feet will be set aside for retail and another 10,000 square feet will be set aside for luxury apartments.
To accomplish this developer is adding a third story to the two-story Briggs Building. The structure was built in 1930 and has footings strong enough to support up to four total stories, however, the developer choose to keep it at three to comply with local ordinances.
A five-story building is being built adjacent to the Briggs Building on what had been a surface parking lot for decades. The 165-space parking lot stretched from Old Woodward to Peabody Street. The new building on top of it will have ground floor retail on Old Woodward, of which Universal Watch has leased space. Office space occupied by money managers and attorneys will be on the second, third and fourth floors. Luxury apartments are set up for the fifth floor. A 175-space parking deck will go behind the building, facing Peabody.
Overall the project is a model for sustainable urban development because it brings people into downtown 24 hours a day. The office space increases foot traffic during the day while the apartments bring in more people during the evenings and weekends. The storefronts keep the building active which, in turn, strengthens the retail environment. On top of it all the parking deck actually increases the number of available spaces.
The developer hopes to start moving tenants into the structure by the first quarter of 2008 and have the whole project finished by next year.
Source: Ted Fuller, developer of the project
Writer: Jon Zemke
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