Downtown Mobile revival continues as more historic buildings see upgrades

MOBILE, Ala. — Part of downtown Mobile known as ‘Automobile Alley’ is being reborn.

Ten years ago downtown Mobile was a much different place than it is today. Back then it was filled with boarded up and crumbling buildings. Blight was around every corner. Businesses couldn’t be convinced to open up shop in the city’s core, no matter how many tax incentives the city tried to bait them with.

Many locals I’ve spoken to agree on one thing, a memorable turning point from then to what downtown has become today, was the restoration and reopening of the Buick Building, about five years ago, on a part of Saint Louis Street known as ‘Automobile Alley.’ Nicknamed for its numerous auto dealerships, showrooms and body shops starting in the 1920s.

Buick Building on St. Louis Street before and after being restored (photo: alabamanewscenter.com)

The start of a downtown Mobile revival that continues today, of restoring old, historic buildings and adapting them to fit modern day needs while keeping the character of the old intact. Another great example of this can be found at the old Nash/Ford Automotive Building, abandoned for decades. It now houses Mobile Antiques after a thoughtful and careful restoration which kept the structure’s original character intact. Like its original concrete floor with chips, dents and all.

Old Nash/Ford Automotive building now home to Mobile Antiques (photo: Jack Helean/McNair Preservation)

Other projects in the works include the original home of the Mobile Press-Register and the Kittrell-Milling Motor Company Building next door.

Wheeler Building c. 1927 original home of the Mobile Press-Register (photo: Jack Helean/McNair Preservation)

The Wheeler Building was the first headquarters of the Mobile Press-Register, then the Adams Motor Company and a Chevrolet dealership. Most recently it was a storage facility. Soon it will start the restoration process and by next year it will be a mixed-use commercial and residential space.

That’s according to Stephen McNair, of McNair Historic Preservation, who’s one of the peope leading the way on these projects by using the federal Historic Tax Credit program. This program encourages investment in historic redevelopment while providing a 20 percent income tax credit for historic income-producing buildings.

The historic Kittrell-Milling Motor Co. Building at 400 St. Louis St. (photo: Jack Helean/McNair Preservation)

“The Historic Tax Credit program takes an underproducing or a vacant building and puts it back on the tax rolls and creates jobs in terms of temporary construction jobs and then the permanent jobs of the tenants in the building,” explained McNair. “The risk for these projects far outweigh the benefits of the credits for the developers,” he added.

“It’s about preserving a building and putting it back into service,” said McNair.

Kittrell-Milling Motor Co. Building being restored on St. Louis Street (photo: Jack Helean/McNair Preservation)

Could all of this development be part of a new prime time for downtown Mobile that the city hasn’t seen since the 1940s? Time will tell and I’ll be following up with these projects and exploring more in the coming weeks/months.

Merchants National Bank Building

The Merchants National Bank building sticks out like a sore thumb from the skyline of downtown Mobile, Alabama. The 236-foot, 18 story building is clearly an old part of the port city, with it's Art Deco facade of patterened yellow bricks, ornate concrete carvings and green copper pyramid roof. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

Opened in 1929, the same year that The Great Depression began, The Merchants National Bank was the first skyscraper on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Downtown Mobile on August 9, 1932 when it was the city's tallest building (National Archives)

On July 1, 1985 it was renamed to the First Alabama Bank Building and in the 1990s again to the Regions Bank Building but 'Merchants National Bank' remains carved into it's exterior today.

In 2017 a Tennessee development company announced it had bought an entire city block in downtown Mobile, including the Merchant's National Bank.

Plans are to restore and redevelop it into high-end loft apartments, restaurants and retail spaces. Starting this month, the landmark building will never be quite the same again.

The vault was totally cleaned out. No forgotten fortunes here.

It was designed by the architectural firm, Graham, Anderson, Probst & Whiteheld who are responsible for, among other famous buildings, the Wrigley in Chicago.

The building is currently occupied by a few legal firms but is otherwise completely deserted. Also I discovered crews have already started gutting the first few floors.

The Merchants National Bank held the title of tallest building in Alabama outside of Birmingham and tallest on the Gulf Coast until 1965. Today it's only Mobile's 6th tallest but remains one of the largest surviving examples of Art Deco architecture in the Deep South.