Birmingham represents a growing and thriving market where commercial real estate investors and tenants alike can participate and find success.
Crexi provides Birmingham commercial real estate individuals access to a robust library of investment-ready properties in the region and the tools needed to research, identify, and acquire their next investment.
Brokers with Birmingham commercial property harness Crexi’s powerful listing management tools to navigate their deals from list to close. To date, Crexi’s commercial real estate tools have helped brokers to close more than $330 billion in asset value and market more than $2 trillion in investments.
Crexi proudly supports Birmingham, Hoover, Gardendale, Pelham, Trussville, Leeds, and the surrounding communities as the nation’s fastest-growing commercial real estate platform.
The State of Birmingham Commercial Real Estate
Nicknamed the Magic City, Birmingham boasts world-class medical research, a dynamic and diversified economy, and a progressive business climate.
Located in Central Alabama, just two hours west of Atlanta, Birmingham ranks among the top US metros for increased millennial residents. It has been named the #1 Best City for Millennial Entrepreneurs based on business-friendly local tax laws, licensing rules, and regulatory environment.
Founded back in 1871, after the Civil War, Birmingham is known as the “cradle of the American Civil Rights movement” and grew by an astonishing 4,000% during its first 40 years.
Originally a mining and manufacturing center, metropolitan Birmingham has transformed itself into a hub for technology, medical research, banking, and entrepreneurship while retaining its manufacturing base.
Birmingham is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and will be the proud host of The World Games 2022, with a projected 3,600 athletes from more than 100 countries competing in some of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Although there are no professional sports teams in Birmingham, there is plenty to see and do. The city lies along the Appalachian Mountains and has more green space per capita than any other similar-sized city in the country.
Birmingham Regional Breakdown
Suburban Birmingham has shown significant population growth over the past decade, making the metro area twice the size of nearby Huntsville. Shelby County to the south and Tuscaloosa County to the west posted double-digit population growth between 2010 to 2020. Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located, is still the most populous, with nearly 675,000 residents.
- Birmingham is home to over 200,000 people, with more than 1.1 million residents living in the metropolitan area.
- The population of the Birmingham-Hoover metro area declined by 5.33% last year.
- Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located, is the most populous county in the state and home to nearly 675,000 people.
- Counties in the Birmingham metro area are Chilton, Cullman, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, and Tuscaloosa.
- The median age in Birmingham is 38.8, about the same figure as Alabama and the US.
- Birmingham’s per capita income is $33,131, and its median household income is $58,366.
- Median household income in Birmingham increased by nearly 3.5% last year.
Birmingham Job Market
The diverse economy of Birmingham is helping to keep job growth strong and the demand for commercial real estate steady. Metropolitan Birmingham is home to more than 550 technology companies, is the 12th largest banking center in the Southeast, and boasts the country’s highest concentration of healthcare jobs.
- The GDP of the Birmingham-Hoover, AL MSA is near $64 billion and has grown 36% over the past decade.
- Birmingham’s unemployment rate is just 2.7% (September 2021), with information, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality showing the most substantial signs of growth.
- Key industry sectors in the Birmingham metropolitan area include advanced manufacturing, financial and insurance services, life sciences and healthcare, information technology, and startups.
- Major employers in Birmingham are the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Regions Financial Corporation, St. Vincent’s Health System, Children’s of Alabama, AT&T, and Honda Manufacturing of Alabama.
- Industrial and manufacturing employment in Birmingham is driven by the wide variety of industrial facilities in the market, such as the Port of Huntsville and the Cummings Research Park.
- Higher education institutions in Birmingham include the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samford University, Birmingham School of Law, and Jefferson State Community College.
- Nearly 90% of the residents of Birmingham are high school graduates or higher, and more than 32% hold a bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree.
The transportation infrastructure of the Birmingham metropolitan area includes five interstate highways, the Port of Huntsville, Norfolk Southern Railway, and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.
Birmingham Industrial Market
The Birmingham industrial market is benefitting from a surge in logistics and manufacturing demand, with market vacancy at 2.6% and industrial rents in metropolitan Birmingham growing by 6.6% year-over-year. The Port of Huntsville and the Jetplex Industrial Park are two industrial complexes in the metro area that keep leasing activity robust and investor interest strong.
- Total industrial inventory: 125,731,502 SF
- Average asking rent: $5.70 per SF per year, net
- Vacancy rate: 2.6%
- Absorption: 2,940,649 SF over the past 12 months
- New construction: 1,787,649 SF under construction with 3,026,381 SF delivered year-to-date
- Sales transactions: $57,500,000
- Sale price average: $37 per SF
- Largest industrial submarkets: Southern, Central, Oxmoor Valley
Discover Birmingham industrial space for rent.
Birmingham Office Market
According to Cushman & Wakefield, office leasing activity in Birmingham has recovered at a volume close to pre-pandemic levels, with the Midtown submarket and Central Business District reporting the highest occupancies, according to Cushman & Wakefield. With year-to-date leasing activity in the metro area surpassing 625,000 square feet, the office market in Birmingham is rated stronger than nationally by the NAR.
- Total office inventory: 57,318,888 SF
- Average asking rents: $20.70 per SF year, full service gross
- Vacancy rate: 10.4%
- Absorption: -371,543 SF (Q2 2021)
- New construction: 265,136 SF under construction with 137,798 SF delivered over the past 12 months
- Sales transactions: $119,600,000 in Q2 2021
- Sale price average: $138 per SF
- Cap rate average: 6.9%
- Largest office submarkets: Central Business District, 280/Southern, Midtown
Discover Birmingham office space for lease.
Birmingham Retail Market
Grocery-anchored shopping centers in Birmingham continue to draw investor attention, driving cap rates down. Over the past 12 months, cap rates for retail space in Birmingham have declined by 0.2%, while asking rents have grown by 4.6% over the same time period.
- Total retail inventory: 83,653,885 SF
- Average asking rent: $14.00 per SF per year, NNN
- Vacancy rate: 4.0%
- Absorption: 735,853 over the past 12 months
- New construction: 378,644 SF under construction with 320,881 SF delivered over the past 12 months
- Sales transactions: $150,200,000 in Q2 2021
- Sales price average: $158 per SF
- Cap rate average: 7.3%
Discover Birmingham retail property for lease.
Birmingham Multifamily Market
The multifamily market in Birmingham continues to benefit from the local housing shortage, with rents for a 3-bedroom apartment in the metro area up 15% year-over-year. Vacancy rates have declined by 1.0% year-over-year, while cap rates have compressed by 1.7% over the same period.
- Total housing units: 489,791
- Renter-occupied households: 328%
- Total rent-occupied units: 156,733
- Average asking rent: $1,069 per month
- Asking rent growth: 8.8% year-over-year
- Vacancy rate: 7.5%
- New construction: 1,410 units under construction with 466 units delivered over the past 12 months
- Sales transactions: $258,700,000
- Sales price average: $98,802 per unit
- Cap rate average: 6.9%
- Popular multifamily neighborhoods: Highland Park, Downtown Birmingham, Five Points South
- Median household income: $58,366
- Per capita income: $33,131
Discover Birmingham multifamily property for sale.
How Crexi Connects Buyers and Tenants to Birmingham Commercial Real Estate
Buyers and principals seeking real estate in Birmingham use Crexi’s robust search features and populated marketplace to quickly find the ideal asset for their needs.
Tenants and investors can search hundreds of Birmingham properties, filtering options by price or rate per square foot, cap rate, square footage, neighborhood, asset type, and several other parameters.
Upon finding the perfect Birmingham asset, buyers and tenants can reach out to the listing broker to learn more, download brochures, and even submit a letter of intent (LOI) through the platform.
Intelligence Equips Investors with Data and Market Knowledge
Proper due diligence and research are essential steps in the property acquisition process. Crexi Intelligence seeks to enhance and simplify the research process for Birmingham commercial property.
Intelligence contains detailed property records and comps on hundreds of thousands of closed assets. A detailed Insights tab showcases real-time Birmingham market data on every page, such as average regional square footage, demographic insights, foot traffic levels , and more.
Intelligence is available to buyers, sellers, and tenants on a subscription basis.
How Birmingham Brokers Thrive with Crexi
Birmingham brokers and those representing Birmingham properties use Crexi to list more than 1000 properties for sale and lease within the city limits. Birmingham’s growing CRE investment opportunities access a nationwide database of interested buyers and tenants connected to the market by Crexi’s listing marketplace.
Commercial agents in Birmingham also use Crexi’s full marketing and listing tools to acquire leads, access real-time sales insights, and amplify their marketing reach to the broadest, most relevant audience pool.
Birmingham commercial agents use Crexi to market assets across different segments, including:
- Offices units
- Retail properties
- Industrial buildings
- Multifamily developments
- Hospitality assets
- Mixed-use buildings
- Land parcels
- Non-traditional properties such as data centers, self-storage, etc.
With Crexi, Birmingham brokers can guide their clients’ assets from start to close using one convenient ecosystem. Brokers can even manage any due diligence documentation via Crexi’s secure file storage.
These tools are free for all brokers, but Crexi’s true power appears with Sale PRO, Lease PRO, and All PRO.
Crexi’s All PRO Membership
Crexi PRO supercharges broker processes with advanced marketing tools and automated processes to help widen their reach and close deals faster. Birmingham brokers enjoy enhanced access to detailed lead contacts and can easily report their progress to their clients with branded reports. Crexi PRO simplifies operational workflows and frees up brokers to do what they do best: build connections and win deals.
PRO enhances successful marketing processes with machine-learning-powered automation tools to connect Birmingham listings with relevant, active buyers. PRO listings enjoy preferential placement at the top of machine-learning-curated results pages and are seen by thousands of active property seekers based on their search behavior.
Crexi also emails weekly marketing blasts, curating lists of PRO properties that receive a 10-15% higher engagement rate than industry benchmarks.
Crexi PRO users enjoy access to Intelligence’s entire library and research features at no added cost,equipping them with detailed market knowledge to provide their clients.
With Crexi PRO, brokers can easily connect with the more than 79,000 leads interested in Birmingham property in the last two years and the more than 12.5 million leads nationwide who searched using Crexi in 2021.
On average, Crexi PRO users successfully win 125% more leads and close up to eight times more deals than non-PRO users.
Contact support@crexi.com to learn more about All PRO.
