Brown Marx Building

The Brown Marx Building is a 16-story, 210 foot tall Chicago-style steel-frame office tower on the northeast corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North. The 193,000 square foot structure was built in three phases beginning with a three-story office building completed in 1906 and named for Otto Marx and Eugene Brown. The immediate success of that building encouraged the builder to finish out the planned upper floors over the next two years. In 1930 the footprint of the building was expanded, creating a U-shaped plan with an average of about 12,000 square feet per floor and windows providing natural light to every office.

The building was financed by the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company, and designed by architect William C. Weston. The exterior of the building was light-colored brick with rusticated banding and arched windows on the third story, surmounted by a cornice. The ground floor was clad in stone with broad expanses of glass showcasing retail goods. The interior was clad in Alabama marble, and the roof parapet was surrounded by a broad, highly detailed cornice. Most of these details have since been removed.

The four early Twentieth century skyscrapers at 20th Street and 1st Avenue were billed, at the time, as the "Heaviest Corner in the South." Over the years, that claim was inflated to the improbably "Heaviest Corner on Earth", which remains a popular name for the grouping. In 1985 the "Heaviest Corner on Earth" was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1951 TCI moved their headquarters from the Brown Marx to the new Flintridge Building in Fairfield. A pool hall was located in the basement for a while. Other tenants included the Southern Building Code Congress.

In 2002, Inman Park Properties purchased the Brown Marx Building along with the Empire Building across 20th Street and the Commerce Center at 1st Avenue North and 21st Street. The following year they proposed to convert the Brown Marx into over 100 loft apartments, perhaps in tandem with the Empire Building. In advance of the planned renovation they moved most of Brown Marx's tenants to the Commerce Center. Unable to negotiate a deal with the Birmingham Parking Authority to build a new deck adjacent to the site, they abandoned the renovation.

In 2006 SAW Holding LLC, a group of local investors led by former Pride Restaurants owner Arnold Whitmore announced places for a $22 million renovation of the building, including 108 condominiums, a roof-top pool, gym, spa, a top-floor bar, an executive office suite, and ground floor restaurant, office and retail space. The proposal includes a 200-space parking deck to be built adjacent to the tower. RealtySouth and Nationwide are jointly marketing the condominiums and will have sales office in the building.

References

• Jefferson County Historical Commission. (1998) Birmingham and Jefferson County, Alabama Images of America Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN0752413465
• Nicholson, Gilbert (July 25, 2003) "100 lofts will fill Brown-Marx". Birmingham Business Journal.
• Tomberlin, Michael (February 12, 2006) "Brown-Marx joins hot condo market". Birmingham News.
• Prouty, William F. (1916) "Preliminary Report on The Crystalline and Other Marbles of Alabama". Bulletin 18. Geological Survey of Alabama.