Loveman Village
- Not to be confused with Loehmann's Village.
Joseph H. Loveman Village is a public housing project operated by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District located at 248 1st Avenue Southwest in the North Titusville neighborhood of the Titusville community east of Elmwood Cemetery.
The project was constructed in 1951-1952 and contains 500 apartments. It was named for Joseph Loveman, president of Loveman, Joseph & Loeb department store, who served on the city housing board from 1940 to 1949. The project was designed by Charles H. McCauley & Associates and constructed by the Batson-Cook Company.
It is managed by Danny Kidd. All units at the project were renovated and lead paint was abated in the 2000s.
In 2009, then-Mayor Larry Langford (who grew up at Loveman Village) proposed replacing the project with condominiums which could be sold to existing tenants with subsidized loans. In 2010 the HABD contracted with Columbia Residential of Atlanta, Georgia to redevelop the site as a 280-unit mixed income community to be called "Westwood Green". The Boulevard Group, which manages Tuxedo Terrace, was asked to apply for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Hope VI grant to help fund the redevelopment.
The Housing Authority announced plans in 2015 to demolish the existing buildings and redevelop the site for new public housing in three phases under HUD's "Rental Assistance Demonstration" (RAD) program. The $19 million redevelopment is replacing 475 two-level apartments with around 250-300 more accessible, modern units, along with a low-rise senior living building. Hollyhand Construction of Northport was selected as the contractor, and ground was broken in August 2015.
References
- Gray, Jeremy (November 9, 2010) "Birmingham seeks grant to raze Loveman Village, build mixed-income apartments." The Birmingham News
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 29, 2015) "Major overhaul coming to Birmingham with $70 million planned housing redevelopment." The Birmingham News
- Godwin, Brent (February 23, 2016) "How a $19M project will transform Loveman Village." Birmingham Business Journal