Birmingham Greenleaf Trust building set to bridge downtown and Triangle districts

Thursday, August 14, 2008 | Source: metromode

Birmingham is about to execute a trade that promises to swap out an eyesore for a icon.

Out is the old, abandoned gas station at Woodward and Maple. In is the signature building for Greenleaf Trust that will stand guard on the downtown side of the border between downtown and the city's emerging Triangle District.

Kalamazoo-based Eckert Wordell Architecture took several cues from downtown Birmingham buildings and other prominent local institutions to develop a building design that would complement the surrounding area.

"We took some the things we liked about the Cranbrook art museum and some other details and incorporated them into our project," says Jason Novotny, the project architect for the building. One of those details is using the Mankato stone featured at Cranbrook and using that on the exterior of the lower floors of the building.

The mixed-use structure will be five stories tall, featuring space for retail, commercial and residential. Five rental apartments will go on the fourth and fifth floors. The second and third floor of the 50,000-square-foot building will be dedicated to office space. Kalamazoo-based Greenleaf will move its Metro Detroit offices to the third floor. The first floor will be occupied by Zazios, a modern Italian restaurant.

"It has been wildly popular in Kalamazoo," says Patti Owens, vice president and managing director of Catalyst Development, a subsidiary of Greenleaf.

The developer is also going to silver LEED certification with a variety of environmentally friendly features. Those include a 1,500-square-foot green roof, natural lighting and numerous water- and energy-efficiency fixtures.

"We're really excited because this is the first LEED certified project we'll be doing," Owens says.

The plan is to go for City Commission approval in mid September and begin demolition and environmental remediation of the brownfield site shortly after. Work is set to be done by May 2010. Owens hopes construction will go as quickly and easily as the planning process with the city.

"We couldn't be more pleased to be in Birmingham," Owens says. "We're looking forward to moving here."

Source: Jason Novotny, the project architect for the Greenleaf Trust building and Patti Owens, vice president and managing director of Catalyst Development.
Writer: Jon Zemke