Former church to be converted to music venue

There’s a strong market for properties in Birmingham’s City Center, including Midtown and Southside, according to Jamie Justice of real-estate firm Colliers International.

“There’s a lot of activity,” Justice said. “If there’s an empty building downtown, people are calling on it and trying to find a way to do something down there.”

The latest example is the purchase and renovation of an old commercial space at 300 24th St. S. for use as a nightclub or entertainment venue. Justice represented the local investor who bought the building — formerly The Downtown Church — for $400,000.

Justice told Birmingham Business Journal in May that the venue could open as early as June and will have a balcony overlooking a main event space, similar to Iron City.

The investor won’t operate the new facility, according to Justice.

“He bought and redeveloped it, and some people will lease it,” he said.

The purchase price may sound low, but the run-down building required “a significant investment” in repairs, including new HVAC, floors and fixes to the roof, Justice said.

“It’s good to see folks taking some of these old buildings downtown and redeveloping them and taking something that was a vacant piece of property and giving it a good use,” he said.

And as development continues over the next few years in Midtown and Lakeview, those areas will become more connected, according to Justice.

“It will become a more walking-type of area,” he said. “It will be more fluid between them.”