Cool News (Birmingham: construction loan, contractors, centers)

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

Vulcan Materials acquiring Texas-based U.S. Concrete Inc. for $1.3 billion


Birmingham’s Vulcan Materials Co. is acquiring a Texas company in a $1.2 billion deal announced this morning.

The concrete and building material producer will pay $74 per share in cash for U.S. Concrete Inc., a supplier of aggregates and ready-mixed concrete. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year, subject to conditions.

In acquiring the company, Vulcan Materials gains access to operations large metro areas in California, Texas, New York and New Jersey. Last year U.S. Concrete shipped 12.6 million tons.

Vulcan Materials Co. Tom Hill called U.S. Concrete “an important Vulcan customer in a number of key areas, and this transaction is a logical and exciting step in our growth strategy as we further bolster our geographic footprint.”

“This is a merger of two corporate cultures that value people, technology, operating disciplines, customer service and the entrepreneurial spirit, and it positions Vulcan to further drive sustainable, long-term shareholder value,” Hill said.

This is a long-term bet on the coming industrial boom in this country. All kinds of infrastructure is going to be needed to support it. And by infrastructure, I don't mean what's in the package before Congress.



Plus it's welcome news for Birmingham. Just a few years ago, Vulcan was staving off an acquisition by a competitor. I have a lot of contacts at Vulcan who were suddenly really chummy with me on LinkedIn at the time.

[OldBankhead]

That should kick them up a few spots on the list.

[MinivanDriver]

End of an era:

https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingh...emolition.html


I'm 95% positive about this. Southtown represents the discredited old-school approach to public housing, one where you crowd the poor onto what are essentially reservations. Not only does it isolate residents from the surrounding communities, but it also creates no-go zones within the city. All you have to do is look at what happened to downtown once Metropolitan Gardens was replaced with a Hope VI project to see how an entire neighborhood of the city can change forever.



I also think the development will utterly transform that section of the downtown area, not just in the development site per se, but in the surrounding area. A smart move would be to invest in real estate within a two-three block radius of that site.



At the same time, I'm conscious of what happens to the current residents? Are they being taken care of, or are they just being dumped somewhere else? I know that some will return to the development to live there once construction is finished. But what about the rest?

[bhamblazer]

Good news about Vulcan. It's nice to see a Birmingham company on the right side of a big acquisition. This should have them knocking on the door of Fortune 500 (they're already a part of the S&P 500 index).

[bhamblazer]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

yep:

Two Birmingham-based companies continue to inch closer to Fortune 500 status.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) remained the only Birmingham company on the list, but Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) and Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) moved up the ranks.

Encompass moved 29 spots up the list, ranking No. 554 compared to No. 583 last year. The company reported $4.64 billion in 2020 revenue. The company has been opening new hospitals at a rapid pace this year, which will drive further revenue growth, but it is also exploring strategic alternatives for its home health and hospice business.

Both Regions and Vulcan moved up 12 spots.

Regions ranked No. 434 with $6.655 billion in revenue, and Vulcan ranked No. 539 with nearly $4.86 billion in revenue. Vulcan, which produces construction aggregates, is one of the Birmingham companies that could be most affected by a national infrastructure push at the federal level.

While experts say the number of Fortune 500 companies is largely just a status symbol for a metro area, they've also noted that Birmingham's loss of large corporations has had wide ranging implications on the region's economy – including office space vacancies, challenges for professional service firms and constraints for philanthropic efforts – all of which have been further impacted by Covid-19.

Encompass is opening new hospitals at an impressive rate and is situated nicely to serve the aging baby boom population. But they'll move down on the list if they divest the home health business.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

At the same time, I'm conscious of what happens to the current residents? Are they being taken care of, or are they just being dumped somewhere else? I know that some will return to the development to live there once construction is finished. But what about the rest?

From the article: Approximately 400 Southtown Court residents have been permanently or temporarily relocated ahead of the redevelopment process of the community, according to HABD. Residents were able to relocate, transfer to another HABD public housing site or transfer to an HABD multifamily property incentive site. Residents could also opt to live on site during construction in one of 88 units that will not be demolished during the first phase of development.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

From the article: Approximately 400 Southtown Court residents have been permanently or temporarily relocated ahead of the redevelopment process of the community, according to HABD. Residents were able to relocate, transfer to another HABD public housing site or transfer to an HABD multifamily property incentive site. Residents could also opt to live on site during construction in one of 88 units that will not be demolished during the first phase of development.

I read that as a short term solution. I'm more intent on what happens to them long-term. Do they get dumped into another old-school housing complex with the same kind of problems?

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

End of an era:

https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingh...emolition.html


I'm 95% positive about this. Southtown represents the discredited old-school approach to public housing, one where you crowd the poor onto what are essentially reservations. Not only does it isolate residents from the surrounding communities, but it also creates no-go zones within the city. All you have to do is look at what happened to downtown once Metropolitan Gardens was replaced with a Hope VI project to see how an entire neighborhood of the city can change forever.



I also think the development will utterly transform that section of the downtown area, not just in the development site per se, but in the surrounding area. A smart move would be to invest in real estate within a two-three block radius of that site.



At the same time, I'm conscious of what happens to the current residents? Are they being taken care of, or are they just being dumped somewhere else? I know that some will return to the development to live there once construction is finished. But what about the rest?

The majority of them won't come back. One, they can't afford to move back. Two, once you have been uprooted from a place that you have called home the majority of their live's (regardless of people opinion about public housing), most don't want to come back . Most accept vounchers to relocate to other public housing and most was relocated to a remodel apartment complex in the sun valley neighborhood near pinson that the city and HABD bought. A few of them moved into homes and the rest is staying on site. Some probably moved out of the city as well.

[bhamblazer]

2 days and 2 big acquisitions for Birmingham public companies.

Regions will acquire Salt Lake City based EnerBank for $960M.

https://www.al.com/business/2021/06/...rbank-usa.html

[TimCity2000]

nice. admittedly, Regions has worried me for years, probably because of all the banking fallout this city witnessed in the 2000s, and it was basically the last man standing.

it's a big bank, but it's not that big... have felt for a while that it could be a target for other banks looking to move into the southeast.