Business Happenings- December 2021

Now Open

NVS Auto, 1460 Minor Parkway, recently became a U-Haul neighborhood dealer, according to a news release from U-Haul neighborhood dealer. The facility will offer services such as U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, moving supplies and in-store pickup for boxes. 205-808-2400 http://nvs-auto-auto-body-parts-supplier.business.site

Owner Leslie Gomez, 5507 First Ave. N., hosted the grand opening of a clothing shop in Woodlawn on Oct. 23, according to The Birmingham Times. A designer, Gomez hand-selects pieces, mostly men’s clothing, from thrift stores and reworks them to fit women who love streetwear, The Times reported. Gomez also plans to host events, such as workshops, pop-ups, panels and speakers. http://trynabstudios.com

Coming Soon

Chefs Kristen Hall and Victor King, the owners of The Essential cafe and Bandit Pâtisserie bakery, announced recently they will open a third concept — Bar La Fête, a Parisian-inspired wine bar and restaurant — in early 2022 at 2212 First Ave. N. in the Mercantile on Morris development. Hall and King will also open a new retail location for Bandit Pâtisserie adjacent to Bar La Fête, according to a news release from the owners and development firm Orchestra Partners. The new wine bar and eatery is inspired by the owners’ travels and love of classic French cuisine. The Bar La Fête beverage menu will feature wines, a few craft beers and a small selection of high-end spirits. The food menu will offer shareable plates. Construction was to begin in October. Shelby General Contractors is overseeing the construction, along with Kyle D’Agostino of Poole & Co Architects.

Sola Salon Studios, a concept that enables hair stylists and other beauty professionals to operate independently-owned private salon studios, has signed a lease with Continental Realty Corporation for 5,480 square feet of space in The Shops on Montevallo, a neighborhood shopping center at 4500 Montevallo Road, according to a recent CRC news release. This represents the seventh Sola Salon Studios location in Alabama for franchise owner King Rogers. Kelsi Holman, commercial leasing associate for Continental Realty Corporation, and Alex Benson of Southpace Properties represented the landlord, and Hugo Isom of JLL represented the tenant. Expected to open in the first quarter of 2022, the studio will contain 30 private salon studios for use by hair stylists, estheticians, eyebrow artists, barbers, nail technicians and others.

Birmingham businessman Don Compton plans to open an Ace Hardware in early 2022 at 4500 Montevallo Road in The Shops on Montevallo retail center, according to a spokesperson for Continental Realty Corporation, which manages the facility. Compton operates eight other Ace Hardware locations and four CC Food Mart convenience stores in Birmingham. Compton announced in May that he had signed a lease with CRC for 10,395 square feet of space in the retail center.

Christopher Architecture & Interiors, 2601 Highland Ave., has completed a six-year renovation of the historic Armour &. Co. meat-packing facility downtown as a mixed-use project with apartments, commercial units and restaurants, according to a Nov. 2 news release from the firm. The facility is scheduled to open to residents by the end of 2021 and to the public in early 2022. Located on First Avenue North, Armour & Co. has a rear entrance on Morris Avenue. The project includes 20 one- to three-bedroom apartments with community spaces and a shared rooftop, as well as a 20,000-square-foot ground floor with commercial and restaurant space. 205-413-8531

New Construction

Rise: A Real Estate Company, based in Valdosta, Georgia, plans to build a four-story, 259-unit apartment complex at 1110 Beacon Parkway E. in Glen Iris, according to Brian Sudduth, Rise development project manager. The Iron and Oak Apartments are expected to break ground in late 2021, with a planned opening set for the second quarter of 2023. 229-247-2077

Demolition of the Kracke Building, 1922 Seventh Ave. S., on UAB’s campus began in October to make room for the new Altec Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building, according to the UAB Facilities website. The new project — expected to be completed in June 2024 — will renovate the existing Lyons-Harrison Research Building to provide 145,000 square feet of new computational research, research support, office, administrative and scientific collaboration and meeting spaces.

AIDS Alabama, 3529 Seventh Ave. S., broke ground Oct. 20 for The Way Station, the first emergency crisis shelter for homeless youth in Birmingham, according to a report at al.com. The Way Station will be the first and only facility in the city to provide overnight shelter and short- to long-term stays for young people. It was made possible by $1 million in federal CARES Act funding from the city of Birmingham, according to the city’s Magic City Spotlight newsletter. 205-324-9822

D&A Companies — a real estate, architecture, and construction firm based in New York City — is redeveloping a Class-A office building at  2222 Arlington Ave. in Southside. The project was scheduled to break ground in November and be open by late 2022, according to a Nov. 2 news release from the developers. D&A also announced that Shipshape, an Austin-based company that operates a proprietary smart home predictive maintenance platform will be an anchor tenant in the renovated facility with a 5,500-square-foot space. Atlas Senior Living has already signed on as an anchor tenant, the release states. D&A has partnered with The FiveStone Group, a Birmingham based commercial real estate firm, on this redevelopment. Office spaces are available for lease via both Michael Reilly at The FiveStone Group and Phillip Currie at J.H. Berry. 917-970-0760 

News and Accomplishments

Hemispheres Magazine, the in-flight publication of United Airlines, recently featured some of the restaurants and retail shops in Birmingham’s popular Five Points South neighborhood. In an article on the Hemispheres website Oct. 13, writer Devorah Lev-Tov highlighted Highlands Bar & Grill, Chez Fonfon, Bay Leaf Modern Indian Cuisine & Bar, Ocean, Black Market Bar & Grill and Filter Coffee Parlor, as well as Local Source Market & Grocery and Alchemy, a boutique clothing store.

The A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club, 4821 Ave. W., received a donation of $5,000 in October from cable company Spectrum, according to a news release from Charter Communications. The donation was part of the club’s Fall Festival celebration. Spectrum also donated 10 Chromebooks for a new on-site computer lab at the facility. 205-923-3377

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, 1 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N., recently unveiled a monument on the south plaza of Protective Stadium, marking it as Legacy Plaza, according to a BJCC news release. Sponsored by Legacy Community Federal Credit Union, the plaza will serve as a gateway to Protective Stadium from all points south, including the Uptown Entertainment District. Legacy Plaza is marked by a 23-foot tall monument featuring a concrete base with a steel trellis above. The trellis is designed to complement Protective Stadium’s architecture. Under the sponsorship, Legacy Community Federal Credit Union holds the naming rights to the plaza for 10 years. 205-458-8400

Hamilton Huber and Martin Smith of the Birmingham office of SRS Real Estate Partners, 304 20th St. S., recently represented landlord Starlite Theatre Company in the leasing of 1,000 square feet of space to Hair Store 205 at the Eastwood Plaza retail center at 7845 Crestwood Blvd, according to a news release from SRS. SRTS is headquartered in Dallas with more than 20 offices worldwide. 205-259-2195

Yellow Hammer Farms, 702 Third Ave. N., seeks to develop an urban farm and market using hydroponic technology to provide fresh, sustainably grown produce at affordable prices, and the company was recently selected by Alabama Launchpad, a program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, as one of 11 finalists in its Cycle 3 2021 business competition. Alabama Launchpad has finalists in two stages of its competition: those in the concept stage, who are usually pre-revenue, and those in the early seed stage, who are looking to accelerate the growth of their existing business. At press time, Yellow Hammer Farms was in competition for $50,000 with four other companies who are in the early seed stage. The winners were to be announced Nov. 17. 205-820-9430

Black Warrior Riverkeeper, 712 37th St. S., a Birmingham-based environmental advocacy group, announced Oct. 28 that it has filed a notice of intent to sue Drummond Company for what the group says are new violations at Drummond’s Maxine Mine site, an abandoned underground coal mine located on the banks of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River near Praco, Alabama. Black Warrior Riverkeeper is asking Drummond to stop the discharge of pollutants and seek the required Clean Water Act permit. 205-458-0095

Women Business Leaders of Birmingham honored four local business women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and character throughout the pandemic during its annual luncheon Oct. 15 at The Club. The honorees were Delphine Carter, founder and CEO of Boulo Solutions; Lindy Cleveland, founder and executive director of Unless U; Pamela Cook, director of multicultural marketing and community affairs at Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED; and Anita Allcorn-Walker, vice president and comptroller at Alabama Power Company.

Protective Life Corporation, 2801 U.S. 280, has launched a collaboration with an apparel brand, FLY V, for a project that will bring local apparel to the recently constructed Protective Stadium, support a small business on Birmingham’s Northside and direct funds back into communities on the Northside. FLY V, located in Fountain Heights, was founded by Birmingham entrepreneur Andrew Jones. FLY V has designed and produced a commemorative hat to be sold exclusively in Protective Stadium during all 2021 home football games for the UAB Blazers.

The Alabama Power Foundation, 600 North 18th St., along with the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, have awarded community grants to Samford University and Miles College to help support the MISA Collaborative, a cultural partnership between students, faculty and staff at the two Birmingham-area schools, according to an Oct. 26 Samford news release. Students from Miles and the Samford University School of the Arts recently collaborated on a theatre production. The MISA Collaborative plans to continue to support creative projects involving the two communities.

Birmingham piano teacher Tatiana Kasman has been inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame, a prestigious designation recognizing the work of North America’s best piano educators, according to an Oct. 15 news release from Steinway. Kasman was nominated for the Hall of Fame by Alabama Piano Gallery, 1425 Montgomery Highway, Suite 151, Vestavia Hills. 2021 marks the second class of honorees, following the inaugural class in 2019. Kasman is an adjunct piano ensemble, private piano and class piano instructor for the Department of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also maintains a private piano studio. Her students regularly win numerous local, state, and regional competitions. alabamapianogallery.com 205-822-3331

Brooks Greene, CFO of the Arc of Central Alabama, 6001 Crestwood Blvd., was recently recognized as one of the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 CFO Award winners. Greene is a resident of Shelby County and has been with the Arc of Central Alabama since 2013. Honorees were chosen from a field of nominations based on contributions to their company, the company’s track record of performance and the CFO’s role in his or her industry and impact in the community. 205-323-6383

Personnel Moves

Adams and Reese, 1901 Sixth Ave. N., Suite 3000, recently announced attorney Rebecca Pritchett has joined the firm’s Birmingham office as special counsel. Pritchett brings extensive experience in environmental, natural resources and oil and gas law. She will focus on permitting and compliance, enforcement defense, brownfield redevelopment, hazardous waste, water quality, water rights, oil and gas exploration and production, mining, timber, legislative drafting and lobbying. Pritchett earned her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law, where she also received a certificate of completion in environmental and natural resources law. She also earned her B.S. in journalism and public relations from the University of Southern Mississippi. 205-250-5000

The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, 1320 First Ave. S., announced the appointment of five members to its board of directors in October, bringing the number of members to 37. The five newly elected board members are: Stephanie Bryan, tribal chair and CEO of Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Macke Mauldin, CEO and president of Bank Independent; John Mazyck, principal at The Frazer Lanier Company; Ruffner Page, president of McWane Inc.; James Rane Jr., vice president of manufacturing at Great Southern Wood Preserving; and Daryl Taylor, vice president and general manager of Airbus America. 205-943-4700

Red Mountain Theatre, 1600 Third Ave. S., has elected its 2021-22 Executive Committee and added new members to its board of directors under the leadership of board President Lajuana Bradford, according to a recent RMT news release. Bradford is a senior vice president at Regions Bank. Executive Committee members for the 2021-22 season are: Bradford; Janet Kavinoky, Vulcan Materials Company; Alan Register, past president, Regions Bank; Kelly Allison, UAB; Pam Cook, Coca-Cola UNITED; William Dow, Warren Averett; Anne Marie Seibel, Bradley Law Firm; Susan Stabler, Brasfield & Gorrie; and Valerie Thomas, The Val Group. New members of the board of directors are: Michelle Clemon, The Clemon Consulting Group; John Harbert, Harbert Management Corp.; Alesia Jones, UAB, retired; Samuetta Nesbitt, United Way of Alabama; John Pickering, Balch & Bingham; Isabel Rubio, community leader; and Anne Marie Seibel, Bradley Law Firm. 205-324-2424

Anniversaries

The Lumbar, 212 29th St. S. in Pepper Place, recently celebrated its third anniversary. 505-440-3065

The United Way of Central Alabama, 3600 Eighth Ave. S., recently celebrated five years since it began operating the Meals on Wheels program in Jefferson County. In October 2016, the MOW program in the county was “on the verge of ending” when UWCA stepped in, said Karla Lawrence, UWCA senior vice president of community initiatives, in a news release. In 1976, MOW was serving only five clients at a time but now delivers nearly 400,000 meals to Jefferson County seniors in a single year, according to the release. 205-251-5131