A long-promised mixed-use development is opening this month.

Battery II is the former Eyer-Raden Building, in Birmingham’s Automotive Historic District.

The building, at 2143 Second Ave. S., is home to two anchor projects:

• The Painted Lady, a boutique hotel with 22 rooms and suites and restored interiors.
• Bygones, an upscale bar and gathering place with curated cocktails, slated to open later this year.

Battery II also has more than 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Oxford, Miss.-based developer Addicus also has its Birmingham office in the building.

Developers said the finished project came after navigating complex regulatory and financial challenges in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drew Adams, partner and chief enterprise architect at Addicus, said the project is about “doing the hard things.”

“We honored our commitments, and ultimately delivered something Birmingham can be proud of,” Adams said.

“This development is a symbol of perseverance, partnership, and what’s possible when you refuse to leave a project unfinished. It’s about reviving history while supporting tourism and job creation in Birmingham.”

The hotel’s name comes from Louise C. Wooster, a woman also known as Louise Curtis or Lou, who operated a business in the building’s upper floors.

She had a colorful history as the Birmingham madam who claimed to have once been the amour of presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth.

She gained fame working as a nurse in Birmingham’s cholera wards in the 1870s, a time she recounted in her memoir, “Autobiography of a Magdalene.” She died in 1913.