Kelly Hotel
The Kelly Hotel is a 96-room high-rise hotel in the former Protective Life building at 2027 1st Avenue North, adjoining the 21st Street Viaduct. It opened December 17, 2021.
Rhaglan Hospitality served as developer and operator for the hotel, which is branded under Hilton's "Tapestry Collection" nameplate. The company, headed by Jim Lewis, purchased the property in early 2018 and applied for a $2.5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to offset property acquisition and pre-construction costs. Lewis named the project in honor of his wife, attorney Kelly Rushin Lewis.
Fifth Dimension Architecture and Sims Patrick Studio of Atlanta, Georgia designed the renovations, which include retail or restaurant tenant space in an adjoining low-rise building. Development plans were approved by the Birmingham Design Review Committee in July 2018 with an anticipated opening in late 2019, but the start of construction was delayed until January 2020. Stone Construction won the contract for the $20 million renovation.
The hotel's main restaurant, "Calico" serves Mediterranean-style tapas and cocktails.
References
- Edgemon, Erin (February 12, 2018) "96-room luxury hotel planned for downtown Birmingham high-rise." The Birmingham News
- Godwin, Brent (July 11, 2018) "DRC approves plans for new Hilton-branded hotel in historic downtown Birmingham building." Birmingham Business Journal
- Van der Bijl, Hanno (January 30, 2020) "Construction underway on new luxury hotel in historic downtown building." Birmingham Business Journal
- Watson, Nathan (July 28, 2020) "Upcoming Kelly Hotel in historic Birmingham building set to open Spring 2021." Bham Now
- Coker, Angel (December 16, 2021) "Rhaglan Hospitality secures restaurant for The Kelly hotel, which opens Friday." Birmingham Business Journal
- Watson, Nathan (December 17, 2021) "An inside look at The Kelly, a brand new hotel in downtown Birmingham." Bham Now