New complexes hope to lure more to area

Lakeview’s popularity as a culinary and entertainment destination has grown steadily since the 1980s, and that growth will likely get another bump soon with the opening of two massive luxury apartment complexes that should bring even more people to the area.

Metropolitan Birmingham, a four-story, 262-unit complex in the heart of the Lake-view entertainment district at Seventh Avenue and 29th Street South, is under construction and should open by summer, according to the project’s web site.

Park 35, a 271-unit complex on Clairmont Avenue near Forest Park, will be complete in January, but the first tenants moved into a portion of the development in September, according to the building’s leasing office.

Both are large buildings, each taking up nearly an entire city block, and each cost more than $40 million, according to press reports. Both should only add to the audience in Lakeview for food, drink, entertainment and other walkable amenities. 

There are other recent apartment developments in the area that demonstrate Lakeview’s growing destination status. The 67-unit Iron City Lofts opened on Fourth Avenue South in Lakeview in 2016. The 54-unit 29 Seven complex on Seventh Avenue South at 29th Street, which opened in 2013, also houses such popular eateries as Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, Babalu Tapas & Tacos and Sky Castle Gastrolounge.