Land your dream job in Birmingham — Birmingham skyline from Railroad Park (Pat Byington / Bham Now)

REV Birmingham released their final economic report for 2025, and some of the results were surprising.

The Q3 and Q4 2025 data-driven economic report about downtown Birmingham covers a wide-range of areas including employment, residential growth and retail trends.

This is the sixth installment of these reports from REV, our local economic development and place-based revitalization nonprofit group.

About the report

Downtown Birmingham Economic Vitality Report.png 1 6 surprising takeaways from Birmingham's latest 2025 economic report — Downtown Birmingham boundaries. (REV Birmingham)

Produced bi-annually, REV’s Downtown Birmingham Economic Vitality Report takes a comprehensive look at downtown, which they define in the study as:

UAB
Five Point South
Southtown
Mid-town
Parkside
Civil Rights District
Central Business District
Uptown
Lakeview
The BJCC

How did Birmingham do in 2025?

Railroad Park — (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

What are some of the takeaways from the Q3–Q4 2025 report from REV Birmingham?

Here is what they saw from the data. The high points:

Office activity is strengthening downtown: Office occupancy reached 78% in Q3–Q4 2025, a 2% increase year over year. Class A office occupancy was even stronger at 83% (82% in Q3–Q4 2024), demonstrating continued demand for high-quality office space.
More employees were physically present: Employee presence increased by 6.6% year over year on the Northside and 4.9% on the Southside, yielding a 5% overall increase.
Corporate investment in downtown continues: Companies are choosing downtown Birmingham for major office space. In 2025, CommerceOne Bank moved its headquarters to the John Hand Building. KultureCity and MBA Engineers are planning downtown headquarters relocations tied to major redevelopment projects.
Downtown’s dining scene continues to be a cultural and economic asset: In Q3-Q4 of 2025, the Michelin Guide recognized 15 restaurants in Alabama, 11 of which are in Birmingham. No other city in the metro area received recognition. Eight of the recognized restaurants are found within the downtown Birmingham footprint, and three are in the adjacent Lakeview district.
More visitors downtown during the holidays: Thanks to several initiatives downtown’s Historic City Center district saw a 9.5% increase in December holiday visits year over year.
The residential market is down slightly: Residential occupancy declined over the past year, from 86.9% in Q3–Q4 2024 to 79.6% in Q3–Q4 2025. REV believes the numbers dropped during this period because two large developments entered the market: The Fitzroy and The James. The good news — more residential growth is on its way with The Yeilding Building under construction and plans to build a 335-unit multi-family development at the former Sherman Concrete Plant site.