Updates on UAB’s 14 recent $872M construction + renovation projects

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is always busy doing something in the community, and 2025 was no exception.

This year, UAB had 14 projects that were recently finished, in progress or completed, all adding up to a whopping $872 million. The projects range from student services and classroom buildings to advanced medical facilities and parking decks.

Here is a brief rundown on what UAB has been up to lately.

New building projects

1. Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall

What to know:

• Located on 13th Street South beside Mervyn H. Sterne Library
• $77 million project
• 200 offices and workstations for faculty, staff and grad students
• Opened June 2025

Read our story about Gorrie Hall’s opening.

2. Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building

What to know:

• Located along 7th Avenue South between 19th and 20th Streets
• Made to unite the university’s core missions of research, clinical care and education with the research enterprise to the south, clinical operations to the north and the heart of the medical school—Volker Hall—to the west
• Funded with $70 million from the State of Alabama, the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County and the Altec/Styslinger Foundation
• Opened October 2025

Read our story about the Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building.

3. Biomedical Research and Psychology Building

What to know:

• Eight stories
• $190 million — $152 million was federal funding
• New facility for the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine + College of Arts and Sciences
• Expected to be completed by summer 2026

Read our story on the June 2024 groundbreaking of the Biomedical Research and Psychology Building.

4. Student Assembly Building

What to know:

• The new home base for UAB’s registered student organizations
• Opened September 2024
• Located at the northwest corner of 14th Street South and 11th Avenue
• The large assembly room can accommodate up to 280 students at a time and can be subdivided into three smaller assembly rooms

Read our story about the proposed Student Assembly Building back in 2022.

5. Cooper Green Mercy Health

What to know:

• Cooper Green was first called Mercy Hospital when it opened 50 years ago in 1972 as a 319-bed acute care clinic
• Opened December 2024
• $120 million project
• Located at 1509 Sixth Avenue South
• Includes full-service outpatient care that includes primary and specialty care clinics, urgent care, physical, occupational and speech therapy, laboratory services, dental services and more

Read our story on the ribbon cutting for the Cooper Green hospital.

6. 14th Street Parking Deck

What to know:

• UAB’s first new parking deck in over 20 years
• Opened June 2024 to commuters and Cooper Green employees and patients
• $36 million project
• Located at 14th Street South and 7th Avenue

Read our story about the parking deck proposal from 2022.

7. Southern Research Biotechnology Building  

What to know:

• $98 million project — $45 million of that was from the Alabama Legislature
• Broke ground in 2022
• $80 million in economic activity in the area during construction
• Located on the corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and Ninth Avenue South
• Opened August 2025

Read our article from the Southern Research Biotechnology Building’s opening.

8. Rehabilitation Pavilion

What to know:

• Opened August 2025
• $156.7 million
• Located on Seventh Avenue South directly adjacent to the Spain Rehabilitation Center
• Built to be the inpatient replacement for the existing rehab facility
• Broke ground in May 2022
• 134 patient beds

Read our story from the Rehabilitation Pavilion’s ribbon cutting ceremony in August.

Expansions and renovations

9. University Emergency Department expansion

What to know:

• UAB received approval from the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees on the project in 2025
• “Response to an unprecedented demand for emergency medical services and to mitigate capacity challenges,” according to UAB
• $70 million expansion

Read about the University Emergency Department expansion’s approval from February.

10. Volker Hall renovation

What to know:

• Project began in summer 2024
• Atrium will have a more modern look and feel and a brand-new entrance facing University Boulevard
• Lecture halls and a new conference room will have new lighting, seating, screens and tech improvements
• 16th Street sky bridge will connect Volker to the new Biomedical Research and Psychology Building
• Ribbon cutting for the atrium was November 2025
• Bridge and lecture halls will open 2026

11. McCallum Basic Health Sciences renovation

What to know:

• Completed April 2025
• Renovations had been underway since 2018
• Revitalized space includes updated wet labs for researchers from Departments of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, Medicine, Otolaryngology, Urology and more
• New lobby with a living green wall
• Deployed energy-saving initiatives

12. Blount Hall renovation

What to know:

• Currently underway
• Located at 1001 14th St. South
• Roof, exterior doors and windows, carpeting and kitchen cabinets will be replaced
• Upgrading fire alarm system and other essential needs
• $22.7 million budget

13. Sterne Library renovation

What to know:

• Currently underway
• Located on 13th Street South
• Roof replacement, upgrading the freight elevator and fire alarm system
• Interior and exterior upgrades have been proposed, such as a new facade on the north side of the building
• $17 million budget

14. Bartow Arena renovation

What to know:

• The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees approved a $14.6 million budget and a list of renovations in July 2025
• Currently 37 years old
• Renovations will include entrance lobby expansion, club-level lounge and club-level seating, replacement of some lower bowl seating and concourse improvements

Read our story about UAB’s plans for the Bartow Arena renovation project.

For news, events and more happening around Birmingham, sign up for our FREE newsletter.