Southtown Court: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:01, 7 May 2019

Aerial view of Southtown Court from the west

Southtown Court or the Southtown Housing Community is a 455-unit housing project owned and managed by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District. It is located on a 25-acre site in the Southside neighborhood, bounded by 23rd Street South to the west, 10th Avenue South to the south, Red Mountain Expressway to the east and University Boulevard to the north.

The community, which originally had 480 1-to-3-bedroom units, was completed in 1941 with funding from the United States Housing Authority. It was designed by Warren, Knight & Davis architects, and consists primarily of 55 two-story brick-clad, gable-roofed buildings spaced around alternating paved parking lots and grass-covered lawns. The total construction cost was $1,977,233.23.

Each unit was furnished with hot and cold water, natural gas and electricity, all included under the rent payment. The Southtown Community Center, leased to the Community Chest of Birmingham operated as one of the first public day cares in the city.

In 1981 the concrete retaining walls on the south edge of the project were painted by artist Vance Wesson. His series of murals depicts mainly flowers and trees against a blue sky. Between 2001 and 2003 the housing units were renovated in a $15 million project that included new air conditioners and gas furnaces as well as street paving and other improvements.

In the early 2010s sisters Norma and Irma Parks began decorating the outside of their units near the corner of 23rd Street and University Boulevard with Christmas lights every Thanksgiving weekend.

As of 2017, Southtown Court is 96% leased, with 436 of its 455 units occupied. The complex is managed by Bessie Word. The Southtown Resident Council is presided over by Irene Johnson.

This article is a stub. You can help Bhamwiki by expanding it.

Redevelopment proposals

Main article: Southtown Court redevelopment

Redevelopment of the community, which had come to be viewed as "blight", had been proposed many times.

In 2008 Mayor Larry Langford proposed a $28 million project to redevelop the Southtown site as a mixed-use commercial district, with existing residents moved to newly-built housing in Titusville or given Section 8 vouchers. The Birmingham Housing Authority Board rejected Langford's proposal by unanimous vote in April 2009.

In September 2015 HABD announced that it planned to apply in 2016 for a $30 million federal "Choice Neighborhood" grant to redevelop Southtown as a mixed-income community, similar to the Park Place and Tuxedo Terrace redevelopments. In January 2017 the authority selected the Southside Development Co. as a development partner.

A discrimination suit was filed on behalf of five residents alleging that the HABD's plans violated the Fair Housing Act. That suit was dismissed by Judge Abdul Kallon in February 2018.

The Southside Development Co. updated HABD with a presentation of three conceptual design options in August 2018. HABD director Marcus Lundy expressed the authority's commitment to secure permanent residences in the new development for all current residents who wished to return.

In May 2019 the developer showed preliminary renderings of a master plan developed by Gensler architects and planners for a mixed-use, mixed income district with 459 housing units (of which 200 would be designated as "affordable") along with 850,000 square feet of office and commercial space tailored for bioscience, medical research and medical offices. Retail spaces would include a grocery, "junior big box" and various neighborhood businesses.

References

Housing Yearbook 1940. Chicago, Illinois: National Association of Housing Officials
Norris, Toraine (April 1, 2009) "Southtown residents to vote on razing complex and moving." The Birmingham News
Garrison, Greg (June 28, 2009) "Residents stay steadfast on Southtown despite crime." The Birmingham News
Garrison, Greg (June 28, 2009) "Southtown still lives in violent shadow." The Birmingham News
Godwin, Brent (September 30, 2015) "Huge mixed-use project planned at Southtown Court near St. Vincent's." Birmingham Business Journal
Godwin, Brent (January 17, 2017) "Birmingham heavyweights chosen to team as developers for Southtown project." Birmingham Business Journal
Owens, Cody (June 19, 2017) "Southtown Update: A Conversation with HABD Director Michael Lundy." Weld for Birmingham
Owens, Cody (June 30, 2017) "Fear of displacement in Southtown." Weld for Birmingham
Edgemon, Erin (September 1, 2017) "Residents of Birmingham's Southtown file lawsuit over redevelopment, possible displacement." The Birmingham News
Hrynkiw, Ivana (February 11, 2018) "Judge dismisses case of Birmingham's Southtown residents who sued over redevelopment." The Birmingham News
Godwin, Brent (August 14, 2018) "Developers unveil preliminary plans for Southtown." Birmingham Business Journal
Wright, Erica (December 20, 2018) "Twins, 69, light up their Birmingham community during the holidays." The Birmingham Times
Beahm, Anna (May 2, 2019) "Southtown Court demolition to begin in late summer 2020." The Birmingham News

External links

Locate with
Google Maps

Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
Restoring the wall video on YouTube

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ==Redevelopment proposals==
 {{Main|Southtown Court redevelopment}}
-In [[2008]] Birmingham mayor [[Larry Langford]] proposed partnering with the [[Daniel Corporation]] and Magic Johnson's Canyon Johnson Urban Fund in a $28 million project to redevelop the Southtown site as a mixed-use commercial district. The projects 730 residents would be relocated to newly-built condominiums or residences, move to other housing projects, or receive Section 8 vouchers for rent assistance. New homes could be built at the [[Trinity Steel]] site in [[Titusville]], and some assisted living and mixed-income apartments could be constructed as part of the redevelopment.
+Redevelopment of the community, which had come to be viewed as "blight", had been proposed many times.
-At a [[March 31]], [[2009]] meeting Langford asked current Southtown residents to vote on their support for the idea. In April the Birmingham Housing Authority Board rejected Langford's proposal by unanimous vote.
+In [[2008]] [[Mayor of Birmingham|Mayor]] [[Larry Langford]] proposed a $28 million project to redevelop the Southtown site as a mixed-use commercial district, with existing residents moved to newly-built housing in [[Titusville]] or given Section 8 vouchers. The Birmingham Housing Authority Board rejected Langford's proposal by unanimous vote in April [[2009]].
 In September [[2015]] HABD announced that it planned to apply in [[2016]] for a $30 million federal "Choice Neighborhood" grant to redevelop Southtown as a mixed-income community, similar to the [[Park Place (Hope VI project)|Park Place]] and [[Tuxedo Terrace]] redevelopments. In January [[2017]] the authority selected the [[Southside Development Co.]] as a development partner.
-Resident council president Irene Johnson expressed her opposition to the proposed plans, noting that HABD had not provided specific plans for how current residents would be accommodated during and after redevelopment. Attorneys [[Richard Rice]] and [[April Collins]] filed a discrimination suit on behalf of five residents alleging that the HABD's plans violate the Fair Housing Act. That suit was dismissed by Judge [[Abdul Kallon]] in February [[2018]] for lack of evidence of violations.
+A discrimination suit was filed on behalf of five residents alleging that the HABD's plans violated the Fair Housing Act. That suit was dismissed by Judge [[Abdul Kallon]] in February [[2018]].
-The Southside Development Co. updated HABD with a presentation of three conceptual design options in August [[2018]], all of which called for denser residential structures with room to incorporate office or retail space, along with one or more hotels and various open green spaces and a buffer area facing University Boulevard. The group anticipates presenting a more polished master plan in September and to seek required rezoning in early [[2019]]. Current residents would be relocated in late summer of that year. Lundy expressed HABD's committment to secure permanent residences in the new development for all current residents who wish to return.
+The Southside Development Co. updated HABD with a presentation of three conceptual design options in August [[2018]]. HABD director [[Marcus Lundy]] expressed the authority's commitment to secure permanent residences in the new development for all current residents who wished to return.
 In May [[2019]] the developer showed preliminary renderings of a master plan developed by Gensler architects and planners for a mixed-use, mixed income district with 459 housing units (of which 200 would be designated as "affordable") along with 850,000 square feet of office and commercial space tailored for bioscience, medical research and medical offices. Retail spaces would include a grocery, "junior big box" and various neighborhood businesses.