Nequette Architecture puts its money where its mouth is with new offices

The term “mixed use” refers to urban development that blends residential, commercial, cultural and other uses in close physical proximity to increase pedestrian activity and create vibrant city centers.

Veteran Birmingham architect Louis Nequette is a big believer in this approach. Nequette thinks city blocks should offer the right mix of retail and other activities, thereby putting what he calls “feet on the street.”

That’s a big reason why Nequette and his firm, Nequette Architecture & Design, recently carried out a major mixed-use renovation of their own downtown. Nequette bought two historic commercial buildings — the W. S. Brown Mercantile Building and the former Harold’s Furniture building — in the 2200 block of Second Avenue North in 2016.

Using his design, Nequette and his firm converted these structures into The Thomas, an upscale mixed-use project with retail, offices and loft apartments. Nequette even added a new fourth floor to one of the three-story structures, giving his firm a permanent home.

The complex is named for Nequette’s father, a Marine helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

“This building offered an opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth was on mixed use,” Nequette said.

The recent revitalization of downtown is exciting, according to Nequette. “I thinks it’s incredible what’s happening,” he said.

And the architect wants The Thomas, which he designed, to have a positive impact on Birmingham. The Thomas “could be an inspiration for other people to not just invest for a quick buck but for the long term, and that is a commitment to quality and follow-through,” he said.

He and former partner Jeff Dungan started the firm, then called Dungan Nequette Architects, in 1998. Dungan spun off his own company in 2015, according to Nequette. Nequette’s firm then moved from English Village to a rented office on Second Avenue North while looking for permanent space.

“We loved Second Avenue and downtown,” Nequette said.

Given the firm’s passion for community planning and urban mixed use, “downtown was a no brainer,” he said.

Construction began on The Thomas in December 2016, and Nequette’s firm moved into its offices this April. The Thomas has nine one-bedroom lofts, ranging from 1,400 to 2,000 square feet, on the second and third floors, and they’ve all been leased.

“The vision was to have fewer and larger lofts, where we could provide a level of quality of finish to match the quality of work we tend to do as architects,” Nequette said.

Nequette brought The Thomas on the market at a good time, since there’s “a growing desire and demand to be downtown,” he said.

“We hit it just perfectly on that high-end marketplace, because the high-end market does not come until there’s confidence,” he said.

Two-thirds of the residents are doctors or related to UAB in some way, according to Nequette.

The Thomas has two offices and two storefronts on the first floor. The office spaces have been leased to Tariff Partners and Sigao, a tech firm. The smaller of two retail spaces has been leased to painter William McLure for a gallery and studio.

For the other, larger storefront, Nequette is seeking a retailer that will increase foot traffic and bring a needed service to area residents.

“The perfect fit would be a restaurant, bar, art gallery, retail store, sundry or market,” Nequette told Iron City Ink earlier this year. “We want something that can benefit the neighborhood on a daily basis.”

“One block can offer 10 buildings of character, allowing 10 to 20 different retail uses [and] that equals energy,” he said. “You go to a financial district with four skyscrapers and that same block is dead because it’s all internal uses.”

One goal in the renovation was to maintain the historic character of the buildings as much as possible.

“We wanted it to look and feel like it was always here,” Nequette said.

In fact, he said one of his favorite aspects of the project is the way they “saved as many pieces and parts of the old building as possible and reused them in creative ways.” For example, old ceiling joists became desks in the architecture office, and ceiling beadboard was used for flooring on the new fourth story.

Nequette said he also enjoys the “a-ha moment” when visitors come off the elevator on the fourth floor and see a “commanding 360-degree view of the city.”

And he’s a believer in the ability of his profession to help bring people together and to leverage what he calls “the power of community.”

“If our environment … doesn’t encourage interaction, then it fails no matter how award-winning it may be,” Nequette said.

He also enjoyed naming the building for his dad. “He always believed in me,” Nequette said.

“He’s a very humble guy when it comes to name recognition …but I can tell he’s proud of it.”

Nequette’s father and his mother, Kathy, live in Hoover.

“My mom deserves to have a whole city named after her, but my dad gets a building,” Nequette said with a laugh.