Associated Press
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Birmingham City Council has approved incentives for a developer’s $57 million plan to renovate the Pizitz Building, a downtown landmark that has been shuttered for about 20 years.
Bayer Properties plans to renovate the 87-year-old department store, once one of Alabama’s finest, and reopen it as a mixed-use space with retail shops, restaurants and offices.
The city council voted 7-1-1 on Tuesday to provide several incentives. The Birmingham News reported that they include a $3.2 million community development loan, $1.9 million in federal recovery bonds to be repaid by the city, and a guarantee of $7 million of Bayer’s construction loan. The $7 million would be repaid only if the company defaulted.
“This project has caused a number of other potential developers to come forward,” Mayor William Bell said after Tuesday’s meeting. “With this passage by the council, it sends a positive message to all the developers.”
Developers call the Pizitz proposal a “transformative project” for downtown, following the successful conversion of the old Loveman’s department store building, across the street from Pizitz, into the McWane Science Center.
The Pizitz Building is expected to open for business in summer or fall 2012, said David Silverstein, a principal with Bayer.
