Old Carraway complex to be demolished all at once under new deal with city

 1617021570 
1670404005

Developers will turn the hospital site into a mixed-use development, Star at Uptown.

Miranda Fulmore, WBHM

The city of Birmingham has revised its plans for the former Carraway Hospital complex to give developers more up-front money for demolition.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Birmingham City Council, councilors approved a revision of a 2-year-old funding agreement with Corporate Realty (doing business as Northside Redevelopment LLC), which is redeveloping the former Carraway Hospital site into a mixed-use development, Star at Uptown, which is to include residential, retail, office and dining spaces, as well as a 9,000-seat amphitheater.

Under the original incentives package, the city would have remitted $9.1 million in future sales, use and property tax revenues to Northside Development; Tuesday’s revisions cut that number in half to $4.55 million. In return, developers will now receive $3.7 million from the city for demolition right away.

Such an up-front payment was necessary, Corporate Realty Chief Development Officer Brian Wolfe told the council, because developers had decided to demolish Carraway Hospital all at once instead of in phases, as initially planned.

“We had contemplated more of a phased approach to demolition over time,” he said. “We’d rather not do that for a lot of leasing reasons. We’d like to continue with momentum we’ve got on the leasing side and go ahead and take care of all the demolition at one time.”

With the approval of the funding, he said, demolition of the long-vacant complex would likely be completed by spring.

The city will likely have to pay for some infrastructural elements of the project in the future, such as traffic engineering, stormwater management or sidewalks, but those have not been specifically determined and will be subject to separate approval by the council.

Mayor Randall Woodfin called the redevelopment “transformational” for northern Birmingham and compared it to large projects such as the Summit shopping mall and the Bessemer CrossPlex.

“There has been huge underinvestment and disinvestment in this side of town,” he said. “We know the return (on this project) will be tenfold … where citizens in the north side of town won’t have to leave the north side of town to shop or eat or (be entertained).”

District 1 Councilor Clinton Woods said he was comfortable with the revised deal because it meant that the city is “basically putting less money into the project.”

“It makes the deal easier to stomach, when you’re actually putting the city in a longer-term better position,” he said. “We’re having the opportunity to convert restricted ARPA dollars and get back later unrestricted general fund dollars, and so that’s another benefit, but I think the overall investment going down is probably the thing that makes me comfortable with the deal.”

 

BSC’s Daniel Coleman talks about his years-long effort to save the school and what happens next.

After the news that Birmingham-Southern College is closing, we sat down with the school’s president, Daniel Coleman.

IVF could help her start the family she wants. Will Alabama’s personhood law derail it?

Despite a law meant to protect IVF in Alabama, patients and advocates worry the protections won’t hold — and warn of future attacks on reproductive rights.

Struggling Birmingham-Southern College says it will close at end of May

The College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the longtime institution, officials announced in a news release. The announcement came after legislation, aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan for the 168-year-old private college, had recently stalled in the Alabama Statehouse.

What happens when a rural hospital shuts its doors? Look to Pickens County

Residents in the west Alabama county warn that the lack of emergency care can have deadly consequences. It's a fate that could befall a growing number of rural communities.

What issues are driving you to the polls this year?

What issues are top of mind as you head to the polls this year? What do you want the candidates to be talking about?

Q&A: A bad deal made Jackson’s water problems worse. It wasn’t the only Mississippi city harmed

Reporter Sarah Fowler talks about her investigation that found at least eight Mississippi cities were harmed by deals over faulty smart water meters.

More Economy Coverage