|
The new Homewood City Center is a mixed-use development located in the heart of downtown Homewood, Ala.
The City of Homewood teamed with Cypress Partners LLC of Birmingham to redevelop an entire city block and create the new city center. It is the first mixed-use development involving a public/private partnership.
Referred to as SOHO, the name is short for "south of Red Mountain in Homewood" and shares the name with the New York City arts district.
What makes this project unique is the fact that the new development actually encompassed several projects rolled into one overall development - SOHO Square. The project schedule, mammoth coordination effort and construction innovative techniques necessary to accommodate uninterrupted construction were critical. Innovative construction techniques involved both companies working on the job to coordinate the use of two tower cranes on a project that had three separate buildings going up simultaneously.
The Homewood Municipal Parking Structure and Plaza, City Hall and SOHO Flats Condominiums built upon each other and were totally integrated to the extent that each individual project could not be considered as a stand alone project. All three projects were dependent on each other to ensure the success of the overall mixed-use project.
The unique and distinctive mix of residential, municipal and retail space is a first for Alabama. The innovative complex fills a 5-acre site in downtown Homewood and creates an inviting town square. The complex includes a City Hall, two buildings with space for retail tenants and 77 condominiums. It also has a 400-space underground parking deck and a 181-space aboveground parking area.
The retail part of the complex will have retailers such as SOHO City Market, a 10,000-sq.-ft. specialty store with chefs and sidewalk dining, a sushi bar, Tulipano, an upscale women's clothing boutique and Zoë's Kitchen restaurant.
The distinctive development doesn't project a particular style but preserves the ambience and charm of the original Homewood community. All three properties are built over an underground parking deck with an additional parking lot for 181 cars on the street level. The two main areas are connected by a large piazza that encourages casual conversation and is referred to as SOHO Square.
The piazza is an inviting town square with trees, benches and areas for dining out. Courtyard fountains will complete the ground level piazza.
Key Facts
| Owner: City of Homewood; Cypress Partners LLC, Birmingham, Ala. |
| Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie, Birmingham, Ala. |
Click here for more Best of 2005 >>
|
print this page
e-mail this page
