Birmingham’s renaissance has been underway for several years now, but it has taken some time for the rest of the world to find out. This year they started paying attention. The opening of Railroad Park, Regions Field, the Iron City event venue and now the recently restored Lyric Theatre have made it clear that there are intriguing things going on in downtown Birmingham. Lonely Planet, the respected travel information source, included Birmingham in its “2016 Best in the U.S.” list, asking, “Could Birmingham be the coolest city in the South?” Food media giant Zagat named Birmingham “America’s No. 1 Next Hot Food City” and the Travel Channel chose Birmingham to its list of “11 Next Great Destinations.” Foodies and fashionistas are not the only groups showing interest in Birmingham. Multifamily investors have been building new developments and acquiring and repositioning existing properties over the past few years. This activity reflects national trends — investors looking for alternatives to top-tier markets and Millennials gravitating to an affordable urban core. Nonetheless, with its burgeoning downtown food and arts scene, Birmingham has earned a second look. Strong Year for Downtown Developers liked what they saw and acted accordingly. In 2014 and 2015, plans …
