ALABAMA STATE EDITION
231
65
72 Florence
2
Huntsville
20 Decatur
72
565 59
43
A Supplement to:
231
431
31
5
Gadsden
78 59 Anniston
20
Birmingham Bessemer
82 Tuscaloosa
65 280
20 82 Auburn
®
80
85
Selma
Phenix City
Montgomery
82
July 20 2016
65
231
43 84 431 331
84
84 52
Vol. XXIX • No. 15
31
45
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
Dothan
65 98
Mobile
10
Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Popular Five Points South District to See $23M Hotel Construction continues on a $23 million hotel planned for the popular Five points south district in Birmingham, Ala. situated on heavily traveled 20th street south, Homewood suites by Hilton in Five points south is expected to open this fall. “It will be the first extended-stay product for the downtown area for Hilton hotels in Birmingham,” said rakesh patel, president of pelham, Alabama-based AUM Enterprises Inc. “We are getting great reviews from the city and community. It has added the needed push to get other things started in this area of Birmingham. the hotel will serve not only UAB guests, but also banking, insurance and health care industries.” patel called the site an ideal location. “Five points has a mix of customer base, with a neighbor and commercial appeal. With all the trend toward ‘downtowns’ across the nation, we feel this was the best time to build.” the project was given the go ahead by a design review committee several years ago, but various issues reportedly delayed construction. specifically, a number of adjustments to the original plans had to be made before work could commence. “It’s like putting a large puzzle together,” said patel. “We started with an off-the-wall idea of putting a hotel in the area back in 2009, came back to it in 2011 and then watched it top out in the spring of this year.” the seven-story hotel will feature 105 rooms, each with a full kitchen. It will also offer an indoor pool, 24-hour fitness center, meeting rooms, a two-story lobby and an outdoor grill and patio. Work began in July 2015 and should be completed this october. According to nick Miele, vice-president of operations of Birmingham-based Wyatt General Contractor LLC, “the project is in a tight space in an urban environment. tight coordination with certain deliveries had to be same-day installation, as there was no room on site for storage. this is very important, therefore your schedule must be tight and maintained. “As the project is a brand name hotel, the owner went over and beyond on the design and style to blend with the art deco feel within this area of town. It wasn’t your standard hotel. this was a true custom designed hotel to fit a tight space and a certain feel.” Currently, crews are installing the EIFs and windows around the perimeter of the hotel. Key tasks yet to be carried out involve coordination of all detailed finishes that will be included in the building. this includes tile, mill work,
By Cindy Riley
CEG CorrEspondEnt
Wyatt Construction photo
Construction continues on a $23 million hotel planned for the popular Five Points South district in Birmingham, Ala. Situated on heavily traveled 20th Street South, Homewood Suites by Hilton in Five Points South is expected to open this fall.
wall covering and decorative elements. “It is fully topped out, and the roofing is complete,” said Miele. “We are installing drywall on the fourth floor of the building. the structure is complete, consisting of steel, load bearing CMU and hollow core concrete planks. All went according to plan.” Miele said that the indoor pool has to be excavated and built before the building walls are enclosed for access purposes. “You typically don’t want to do this too soon without a roof, or some type of cover, so it won’t stay saturated.” the urban environment also has been a concern for crews, who must constantly be aware of shoppers and moving vehicles.
“You have to worry about the safety of your work force, in addition to the surrounding pedestrians. It’s just another level of management that has to be maintained,” said Miele. the project didn’t call for a great deal of excavation, as the site was primarily flat. “the hotel sits on a spot where a building used to be,” Miele said. “An existing building had to be demolished first, which was sandwiched against ‘Bailey Brothers Music Company’ and an existing alley. We had to be careful not to damage the adjacent building. total demo and clean up took about two weeks. We used a trackhoe and dump trucks. “once that was complete, the site had to be leveled and the building pad installed. two adjacent sites were also see HILTON page 6