Business Roundup: Bayer Properties’ next downtown project, money for entrepreneurs

Bayer Properties continues to move forward in developing The Hardwick, a new mixed-use project downtown.

A local entrepreneur received some positive notice recently from a corporate giant.

Two Birmingham companies earned some Alabama Launchpad funding.

In addition, another Birmingham entrepreneur is working with a local construction giant to help develop a unique language app that can increase safety.

THE HARDWICK

Bayer Properties, a local developer, spent about $70 million to transform The Pizitz, a 1920s-vintage store, into a popular mixed-use destination that opened in 2017.

In mid-May, Bayer announced that it had found another major downtown project, the renovation of a 110-year-old steel processing plant located at the eastern end of Birmingham’s Rotary Trail.

The developers believe that the Hardwick building — once occupied by The Hardwick Company — will offer great views of the downtown skyline to the north, provide easy access amenities and become an attractive destination for office and restaurant tenants.

Located in the Automotive Historic District, The Hardwick will offer tenants convenient access to the Rotary Trail.

Upon completion, “The Hardwick will deliver unbeatable connectivity to the surrounding vibrant neighborhood, with walkable and convenient office opportunities,” Jami Wadkins, Bayer co-president and CFO, told Iron City Ink in June.

Bayer is moving forward with design and development efforts, anticipating a construction start of summer 2021, according to a recent news release.

Bayer Properties also engaged Meredith Calhoun of Tessa Commercial Real Estate to oversee office leasing at The Hardwick.

The Hardwick is a 62,000-square-foot adaptive reuse offering flexible, move-in ready offices, as well as street-level retail, shared amenities and restaurant space. The vision is to create a “vibrant mixed-use community,” the release states.

The area is also ready for some food and beverage options, and Bayer seeks to create “a revitalized food and beverage district that celebrates local restaurateurs,” Wadkins said in June.

“We’re always seeking meaningful opportunities that make sense and resonate with the community, and we believe this is a major addition for not only the neighborhood, but also Birmingham as a whole,” she said.

“This project provides us with the opportunity to create quite a unique office and retail environment that does not exist in the market today,” said Libby Lassiter, the president of Bayer, in the release.

Office tenants will have access to an indoor/outdoor plaza and a rooftop terrace.

Other amenities will include bike lockers, showers, lounge area, on-site parking and electric car charging stations.

For health and safety reasons, Bayer plans to use touchless technology at all high-traffic points and a filtering HVAC system.

“We have a unique opportunity to meet the needs of the worker and the employer of the future with this project,” Calhoun said. “Bayer’s team is reimagining the mixed-use environment and focusing on creating a space that will meet the changing office needs of our business and tech communities.”

Similar to The Pizitz project, Bayer will utilize federal and state historic tax credits for The Hardwick redevelopment and will also raise Opportunity Zone equity.

Bayer is working with Williams Blackstock Architects, Stewart Perry Construction and Schoel Engineering, all of whom have experience in adaptive reuse.

For more information, visit thehardwickbham.com.

100 FOR 100

Mixtroz announced Nov. 20 that its co-founder and CBO, Ashlee Ammons, was among the 100 Black, female entrepreneurs and innovators presented with $25,000 in funding as well as 100 days of resources by Amex and IFundWomen of Color as part of their new 100 for 100 program.

Amex worked with IFundWomen of Color to support Black-women-owned businesses with funding and resources, including business education, mentoring, marketing and virtual networking.

The Mixtroz software uses real-time surveying to engineer group collisions of three to 10 people, while collecting useful data where 50 or more gather live or virtually.

“I am in the business of networking, and it’s often said, ‘It’s not about who you know but who knows you,’” Ammons said in a news release. “American Express andIFundWomen of Color took the initiative to learn about me, get to know me and now support me. I am so motivated and excited by what this partnership means for my business on a national scale and humbled by what this says about me personally and my work as a Black, female founder in the Southeastern technology ecosystem.”

For more information, go to mixtroz.com.

For more about 100 for 100, go to ifundwomen.com/woc.

BIRMINGHAM STARTUPS

Two startups from Birmingham won large prizes in the Alabama Launchpad in November.

Lucid Living Solutions won a $50,000 prize. The company helps families that are managing substance use disorders, offering tools such as monitoring and results sharing.

Conserv, a previous Alabama Launchpad winner, won the seed stage and received $100,000 in funding. The company makes an environmental monitoring tool for art collections.

Alabama Launchpad has now funded 100 Alabama startups since it began in 2006, according to the program’s website.

The program has awarded more than $5.4 million in funding to winning companies, which today have an estimated combined valuation of more than $400 million and employ about 700 people.

SPEAKING SAFETY

In 2019, entrepreneur and native Spanish speaker Oscar Garcia created an app called Need2Say to help foreign health professionals and international students improve their English communication skills, according to a news release from the Birmingham Business Alliance.

However, Garcia learned that Hispanic construction workers have the highest fatality rates of any group in America.

He began working last summer with Birmingham construction firm Brasfield & Gorrie to increase the functionality of the Need2Say app and make it work for jobsites.

“A significant number of construction workers’ first language is not English, and that can make it more difficult to learn standard safety procedures,” Garcia said, according to the BBA news release.

The partnership made sense for Brasfield & Gorrie because of its emphasis on safety.

“Anytime we can make our people better, more productive and safer, that is a goal,” said Russ Gibbs, director of VDC, innovation and operational technology at the company.

“Our goal is to become the app that Hispanic construction workers know that they can rely on to increase their productivity, knowledge and safety on their specific project site,” Garcia said.