Southtown Court
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.
Redevelopment proposals
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
External links
- Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
- Restoring the wall video on YouTube