Westin Grand Bohemian

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The Westin Grand Bohemian was a planned 14-story, 250-room full-service luxury hotel to be constructed on the site of the Birmingham Board of Education Building at the northeast corner of 20th Street and Park Place across the street from Linn Park.

The project resulted from an invitation extended by Alabama Power Company CEO Charles McCrary to Richard Kessler to tour the city for potential luxury hotel sites in early 2004. That April, Kessler made his initial proposal, followed in October by plans for a slightly-reduced $50 million, 200-room hotel on 14 floors. The project would have included at least one restaurant, a lounge, large ballroom, exercise facility and commercial and retail space. The design would have been modeled after the Westin Grand Bohemian in Orlando. The project ultimately stalled and subsequently was canceled after the Board of Education decided to not sell the property for the proposed development.

Kessler returned to the area in 2012 with the announcement of a 100-room Grand Bohemian Mountain Brook hotel in the newly-approved Lane Parke mixed use development near Mountain Brook Village.

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  • Tomberlin, Michael and Barnett Wright (April 27, 2004) "Hotel chain eyes Linn Park location." The Birmingham News
  • Tomberlin, Michael (October 9, 2004) "High-end downtown hotel planned." The Birmingham News
  • Leech, Marie and Joseph D. Bryant (December 8, 2007) "Mayor wants schools office leveled." The Birmingham News
  • Poe, Ryan (October 4, 2013) "How the Grand Bohemian Hotel ended up in Lane Parke." The Birmingham News