Bayer Properties
Bayer Properties was a real estate developer and management company founded in 1983 by Jeffrey Bayer, a former partner with Metropolitan Properties. The company is known for its development of The Summit in Birmingham in 1997, an innovative "contemporary lifestyle center" which the company replicated in several other markets.
The company established headquarters offices in the Bayer Properties building at 2222 Arlington Avenue.
Bayer was among the development companies associated with the Business Alliance for Responsible Development, formed in 2005 to oppose the recommendations of the Upper Cahaba Watershed Study and the operations of the Storm Water Management Authority.
Libby Lassiter was named president in 2005, sharing leadership duties with co-president Jami Wadkins. Wadkins assumed took over as sole president in 2019.
In April 2014 Bayer principal David Silverstein discussed a proposal for a 42,000 seat arena as part of an expansion of the BJCC, a project that bore fruit as Protective Stadium in 2021. In the meantime, Silverstein left Bayer to found FiveStone Group.
Bayer was a leading partner in the Southside Development Company joint venture which redeveloped the Southtown Court public housing project. In 2020 Bayer moved its corporate offices to the 2200 Magnolia Avenue building adjoining the Southtown site.
In August 2022 Bayer sold its entire property management portfolio to Dallas, Texas-based Centennial and continued to operate as a regional office of that company. Jami Wadkins accepted the position of chief operating officer for the combined company, which now manages a combined 21 million square feet of retail and mixed use properties.
Development and redevelopment projects
- Avon Building redevelopment, Lakeview, 1984
- Market Square, Cahaba Heights
- The Summit, 1997
- The Pizitz redevelopment, 2000
- Edgewood Town Center, Green Springs Highway, 2003
- Cahaba Village Plaza, 2007
- Inverness Plaza renovation, 2015
- Hardwick Building redevelopment, 2022