A local investment group made another big Birmingham buy this week. Lemak Prattville Clinic, LLC, an entity owned by Matthew Lemak and Dr. Lawrence Lemak, acquired The Ideal Building Lofts, a 6-story mixed-use multi-family/retail building located at 111 19th Street N. in Downtown Birmingham for $4.5 million, or $168.68 per square foot.
Casey Howard and Charlie Norton with Harbert Realty represented the Buyer and Seller in the transaction. Howard stated, “The Buyer acquired the property as a long-term investment. Even with all of all these new developments and acquisitions in the past few years throughout Downtown CBD, there’s still opportunity for investors to find investments with attractive returns and while the pandemic has slowed some of the activity temporarily, we still continue to see growth and opportunity in retail, office and multi-family sectors. There are more great projects underway that will continue to drive jobs, our economy and quality of life for those of us working and/or living in the City of Birmingham. Birmingham continues to be an attractive market for investors and developers due to our large Opportunity Zone coverage, low taxes and potential upside for growth.”
Norton stated “this is yet another example that tells a great story about downtown Birmingham. Deals continue to happen and the future is bright. During times like these it is so important for your real estate to be unique. This is a niche product in a fantastic location.”
The Ideal Building is a 6-story, 26,677 square foot building that was constructed by the Aland family in 1929 for their fashion store. It is clad in white terra-cotta with thin spiralcolumns dividing the facade into three bays. The building consists of 12 fully-occupied residential lofts. It is located across the street from the $66 million Pizitz project and only a block from the historic Alabama Theatre and McWane Science Center. It is a short walk to Railroad Park as well as Regions Park. The property is also located in an Opportunity Zone. The previous owner, Ideal Building LLC, acquired the building in 2015 and completed a full renovation of the entire building, including the addition of 12 residential lofts.
The deal is significant as a sign of continued interest in Birmingham from investors.
