birmingham's kinetic communications to renovate morris ...€¦ · the most well-known of the...

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Jay Brandrup of Kinetic Communications stands in front of thebuildings on Morris Avenue that the company plans to renovate anduse for office space. (The Birmingham News/Hal Yeager)

Home > Business News from The Birmingham News > Breaking News

Birmingham's Kinetic Communications to renovateMorris Avenue building, formerly Zen clubPublished: Friday, February 17, 2012, 7:00 AM

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Thedowntown building that was home toThe Station and Zen nightclub andseveral restaurants has been acquiredby a Web design firm that plans torenovate it and use it as office space.

Kinetic Communications paid$210,000 for the Morris Avenuebuilding and a connected one, buyingthem out of foreclosure, said JayBrandrup, an owner of the firm. Thefirm likely will move in before the endof the year, he said.

"We got an unbelievable deal,"Brandrup said. "We're stoked, to say

the least."

The most well-known of the two buildings includes a red train caboose, a relic from its original lifeas a "Victoria Station" restaurant in the 1970s. The connected building, which dates back to atleast 1885, was a Dixie Coffee Co. warehouse.

Both had been vacant since 2010. The city closed the Zen nightclub after a man was stabbed todeath on the dance floor in 2009.

Kinetic will occupy 9,000 square feet in the two buildings, moving from leased offices just a coupleof doors down the street.

In tearing down walls in the buildings, the new owners found old signs from their originalrestaurant life, as well as some other ephemera from their dance club past, Brandrup said.

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Purpose-built in 1974 as part of the short-lived, San Francisco-based Victoria Station restaurantchain, the main building and its caboose are a regular backdrop for photographs today. Brides canoften be seen posing for wedding photos on the steps of the caboose on weekends. Itsredevelopment is significant, and demonstrates that downtown provides a good environment fortechnology companies, David Fleming, chief executive of Operation New Birmingham, said in astatement.

Kinetic, which employs 13 people, will about double the square footage of its workspace when itmoves from its leased offices across the street from Morris Avenue's Peanut Depot. The firm hasdone web development and other creative work for businesses including Alabama Power Co., MTVand Hilton Hotels. It recently won a U.S. Olympic Committee contract for work on a Paralympicproject, Brandrup said.

Birmingham-based Appleseed Workshop will handle the renovation.

Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Diel at [email protected].

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bhamfornow February 17, 2012 at 7:26AM

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OK Stan. I had to look up the word "ephemera". Way to class up the al.com.

nufocus February 17, 2012 at 7:30AM

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Congratulations on the favorable purchase price. Very pleasing to see businesses purchase andrenovate these vacant and unused buildings. Best wishes and much success.

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birmingham's kinetic communications to renovate morris ...€¦ · the most well-known of the...

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