Reviewed by: Nathan Watson
Hotel group offers $5.2M to buy downtown Birmingham Board of Education building
A&R Group (A&R), a prominent hotel development group based out of Gulf Shores, has offered to purchase the Birmingham City Board of Education headquarters building across from Linn Park for $5.2 million.
59-year-old Birmingham Board of Education Building
A&R Group—which purchased the nearby Tutwiler Hotel in late 2023—hopes to turn the 59-year-old Board of Education building (located at 2015 Park Place North, Birmingham) into a boutique hotel.
Last week, A&R representative Dave Wallace described the group’s proposal to the Board of Education Work Session.
During his presentation, Wallace updated the Board on A&R’s $7 million effort to renovate the Tutwiler. He also explained to the Board why the addition of the Board of Education building as a boutique hotel fits nicely into their plans.
Local Birmingham team assembled
A&R is not new to the hotel development business. According to Wallace, the group owns 20+ hotels, plus five under construction. They are huge in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach market, and own about 80% of the hotels in that vacation hotspot.
In addition to the proposal to purchase the building, A&R announced they have assembled a team of local architects and community development groups to assist them.
They include:
Watch the A&R group presentation beginning at the 2 hour 23 minutes:
What’s next for the Board of Education headquarters?
The next school board meeting is set for Tuesday, June 11th, 5:30PM at 2015 Park Place North, Birmingham, Alabama, 35203.
Currently, the agenda has not been released. No word yet whether the sale of the building will be considered.
Are you excited to see a potential boutique hotel across from Linn Park? Tell us your favorite Tutwiler memory and what you think of this new exciting project on Instagram by tagging us @bhamnow!
