Revive

Do you remember our REVIVE street activation project in 2013? The demonstration project in five commercial districts was designed to change perceptions about city neighborhoods by activating streets and storefronts and generating foot traffic. From 250 people at a pop-up in a vacant lot in Ensley to 2,500 people at Light Up The Lyric in the Theatre District, Birmingham turned out and showed their support each week for REV’s work to revive one block in each of these districts: East Lake, Ensley, Five Points South, Woodlawn and 3rd Avenue North in downtown. The streets were buzzing with vibrancy in the form of shops, signage, street life and, most importantly, PEOPLE!

Birmingham Lights

We know you’ve seen the iconic light tunnels downtown – but did you know that they were a REV Birmingham project? Well, it’s time for a little history lesson! In Birmingham, we have four railroad underpasses in our downtown.  They used to divide the north and south sides of the City Center as dark and uncomfortable places.  People avoided walking through the tunnels, which kept nearby businesses from thriving. Now, all four are filled with rainbow light art. The Birmingham Lights tunnels draw pedestrians into what was a dark and scary place.  But more importantly, it draws people from the south side to the north side, moving them between lunch spots and business meetings and parks and theaters. These light tunnels have also become ICONS in the city—countless engagements and parties and music videos have been showcased under their brilliant colors. Have you taken the infamous light tunnel photo for your Instagram feed yet?

Woodlawn Street Market

Have you met us at the market yet? The Woodlawn Street Market is an urban street market providing a platform for startup businesses, pairing local retail & food with live entertainment in the heart of historic Woodlawn. REV Birmingham partners with the Woodlawn Business Association to bring you Woodlawn Street Market. Since 2014, Birmingham entrepreneurs have been using this business-proving opportunity to start small, test strategies, and perfect their models in response to real customer feedback.

Upswing

Upswing was born in 2019 as a demonstration project—designed by REV Birmingham—to prove and improve downtown’s market for retail. Retailers popped up in three shipping container stores on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 19th Street: Domestique Coffee, Hide & Hunter + Great Bear Wax, and Magic City T-Shirts + Urban Vintage.

Fast forward to present day: Have you seen the colorful swings (and other more stationary seating) at 3rd Avenue North and 19th Street? This parklet across from The Pizitz and McWane is a spot for you to rest a bit, sip a latte, have a conversation—and swing!

REV believes in the power of placemaking to make your downtown experience a little more vibrant and fun. Sometimes that can be as simple as a tiny park on the corner of a parking lot (which, by the way, is a paid public lot where you can start and end your day or night downtown). Stop by Upswing and hang out any time!

REVeal Kitchen

REVeal Kitchen was a REV-programmed stall inside the Pizitz Food Hall that served as an accelerator for Birmingham’s up-and-coming restaurateurs, who rotated every four to six months. The stall offered culinary graduates of Create Birmingham‘s CO.STARTERS program (an initiative REV partnered on) to improve their business models and establish early customer bases.

The REVeal Kitchen accelerator gave participants a short-term opportunity in a move-in-ready space to tackle everything it takes to run a restaurant.  At the same time, they perfected their operating model and built an early client base. Future tenants also worked with REV’s real estate team to identify space for their permanent brick-and-mortar restaurants and identify the resources needed to shrink the timeline between leaving REVeal and landing in a permanent location. In addition, REV team members helped startups adjust their business models based on lessons learned, while also working to secure financing and other resources needed for sustainability.