The team that developed the Tributary Rise in Birmingham, Alabama, faced several challenges when building the apartment complex, and the pandemic proved to be the least of them.
While Novare Group, BCDC and its team of engineers and contractors were building the 286-unit complex at 3090 U.S. Highway 280, they had to maneuver around an adjacent 400,000-square-foot office building and 1,400-space parking deck that sits between two mountains and is used by hundreds of employees each workday. The COVID-19 outbreak actually made things a little easier, for a while, as fewer and fewer people came to the nearby office building or garage.
However, the pandemic then whipped around to create new challenges for the Novare-BCDC team as labor shortages and supply chain disruptions made finding workers and supplies harder. The development team was able to overcome supply issues using the timely procurement of materials needed to build Tributary Rise. Not only that, but large amounts of rock were blasted and a creek was relocated to place the complex among the existing landscape and parking deck.
Flournoy Construction, a subsidiary to Kajima USA and sister company to BCDC, completed construction of the complex in March 2022. The project was awarded a 2023 CoStar Impact Award by an independent panel of industry professionals within the market.
About the project: Tributary Rise is a 286-unit multifamily project that's part of the Tributary master-planned development. Tributary also contains a 400,000-square-foot office building, parking deck, a 55-plus rental development a lake and acres of green space.
What the judges said: "I really liked the way they handled some of the unique challenges of the topography and turned them into competitive advantages such as three miles of walking trails along the creek, pond, and bluffs," said Alan Tidwell, associate professor of finance at the University of Alabama and chair of real estate of the Alabama Association of Realtors. "It appears that a lot of thought went into the tenants with regards to social and recreational activities on the property."
Janice James Douthard, industrial parks and real estate manager for the city of Birmingham, said, "The project had a lot of challenges, however, the development has created a positive impact by providing quality living indoor and outside amenities."
They made it happen: Jim Borders, Frank Reese and Stewart Rand of Novare Group, which with BCDC are investors in the project. Compass Bank and Cadence Bank provided debt financing. Nelson served as the architect, Schoel Engineering was the civil engineer and Flournoy Construction was the general contractor. Macknally Land Design was the landscape architect. Law firms Bradley Arant, Beavers Law and King & Spalding served as legal counsel, and Katherine Kelley of Green Street Properties provided consulting services.
