Norma Parks, 75, has lived in Southtown public housing since 1970, in the old red brick buildings. Only one section of the old red brick buildings are left. The rest have been demolished and are being replaced by modernized housing units.

“In a way, I’m sad,” Parks said. “But in a way, they’re putting us somewhere new. I’m happy to go over there.”

She pointed across the street to the new Southtown Court apartments.

On Thursday, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin joined representatives of the Benoit Group and officials with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly opened Southtown Senior, a 143-unit affordable senior housing development built where some of the old red brick buildings were demolished.

“They moved a lot of people out,” Parks said.

She hopes her turn comes soon. She believes she is one of only 20 people left living in the old red brick housing.

“Sometimes I just count how many people in each row,” Parks said.

Southtown Senior features a dedicated community space, a business center, and murals that celebrate the culture and legacy of the Southtown neighborhood.

“This development is a bold step forward in our efforts to reimagine Birmingham’s future,” Woodfin said. “Southtown Senior reflects our commitment to creating inclusive, livable spaces where every generation can thrive.”

The public housing community sitting on 26 acres of high-demand property behind a painted wall on University Boulevard between St. Vincent’s Hospital and the UAB campus, is finally ready for its makeover.

The Birmingham City Council voted in 2021 to re-zone the 26-acre Southtown Court public housing complex on University Boulevard to make way for a mix of residential development, hotel and medical office complex, parking garages and retail space.

That move cleared the way for the beginning of demolition of the old apartments, a section at a time, to make way for modernized public housing.

Demolition began in December 2021.

Southtown Court was a 445-unit public housing community where 1,000 people formerly lived.

Those who still live in the remnants of the old housing community will remain in their apartments until the new housing is completed. The currently occupied apartments will be the last section demolished.

Residents have met with caseworkers and were given the option to move to the new housing.

The Birmingham Housing Authority offered a variety of options for vouchers for home ownership, rent assistance vouchers and a choice of moving to other apartments owned by the Birmingham Housing Authority.

About 224 families chose rental vouchers that they could use with private landlords, choosing their own housing location.

Many of those who stayed in Birmingham Housing Authority properties chose to move to Park Place, the downtown Hope VI development that was built as a mix of subsidized federal housing and market-rate rentals in the footprint of where the former Metropolitan Gardens public housing was located in central Birmingham.

A new trend has been to tear down old, crowded public housing where the poorest people are concentrated and replace those apartments with mixed-income developments meant to attract non-subsidized renters. Park Place, the HOPE VI plan that replaced the old Metropolitan Gardens community downtown, was Birmingham’s first example of that model.

The new development on the site of Southtown Court will include up to 560 housing units, equally divided between federally subsidized housing and market-rate rentals. Initial plans called for 220 subsidized units.

The re-development plan calls for green space including a buffer along the west side of Red Mountain Expressway.

New buildings, including hotels and office space, cannot exceed 225 feet in height.

Southside Development Corporation, a consortium that includes Corporate Realty Development and other partners, will oversee the $26 million development.

Built in 1941, the densely populated, impoverished Southtown Court public housing community was beset with problems over the decades. Drugs, crime and violence made Southtown a grim, depressing home at times, said many of its residents who favored an update to the area.

Parks said she hasn’t been notified when she’ll be assigned one of the new apartments. She expects to move soon.

“It’s not going to be long,” she said. “We’re waiting on the move. It won’t be long.”