WorkPlay is headed for its next chapter, courtesy of new owners who plan to revamp and revive the entertainment complex in Birmingham.

Five business partners — Johnny Grimes, Shane Hopson, Ben Jackson, Colby Mouchette and Josh Williams — bought WorkPlay for $3.6 million from previous owners Tom Williams Jr. and his wife, Courtney Allison Williams. The new team closed the deal on Oct. 25 and started working on the property almost immediately.

“We can’t wait for people to see what we’re building here,” Grimes said, detailing renovations planned throughout the 30,000-square foot complex at 500 23rd St. South.

WorkPlay’s name will stay the same, Grimes said, and its key elements will remain intact: A bar, a 450-capacity theater, a movie soundstage, a recording studio, office space and a patio. The size of the primary bar will triple, however, and receive a new name: The Harmonic at WorkPlay. The bar’s design will be updated — the Death & Co. bar in Denver is a major inspiration for that, Grimes said — and a second bar will be added for events in the soundstage. (It doubles as a concert venue that can hold more than 800 people.)

Nearly everything under WorkPlay’s roof will get a makeover, from the floors to the ceilings, Grimes said. That includes carpeting, lights, seating, recording equipment, film gear, a PA system for the soundstage and more. The bathrooms will get a major overhaul and more may be added to the layout, he said. WorkPlay’s patio will get a glow-up, as well.

Painting and cleaning are underway, Grimes said, and major construction will start in December. If all goes well, a revamped WorkPlay will be ready for an opening celebration at the beginning of February, he said, with a “Hello again” weekend of festivities.

“We want to continue what makes this place so special,” Grimes said. “It’s a place where innovation and inspiration meet. It’s Birmingham’s creative playground for the music and art community. We’re going to move the entire building into the future.”

WorkPlay was founded more than two decades ago by the Hunter brothers — Alan, Hugh, Randy and Blake — who brainstormed the overall concept and opened the venue in 2001, in a former warehouse at the corner of 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue South. At the time, the price tag for the project was $4.5 million, the Hunters said, including a full-scale renovation of the building, designed by Neil Davis of Davis Architects.

WorkPlay quickly became a bustling hub of activity, with a lively concert calendar that ranged from low-key singer-songwriters to high-profile rock bands. Acts ranging from Leon Russell to Brandi Carlile to Yonder Mountain String Band played on WorkPlay’s two stages. The venue provided a key piece of Birmingham’s music puzzle, co-existing with smaller and larger concert spaces such as The Nick, the former Bottletree Cafe, the Alys Stephens Center and Oak Mountain Amphitheatre.

In 2007, WorkPlay was listed as one of ‘’America’s 40 Best Music Venues’’ by Paste magazine, earning a spot alongside heavyweights such as The Fillmore in San Franciso, Tipitina’s in New Orleans and The Troubadour in West Hollywood.

WorkPlay also hosted special events such as corporate dinners, community fundraisers, wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs. Several artists recorded music at WorkPlay, including concert albums. Train, a favorite in Birmingham during the late ‘90s and early 2000s, recorded more than a dozen tracks at the WorkPlay theater for “Alive at Last,” a 2004 album. “WorkPlay Live,” a 2005 compilation disc, featured tracks by Lucy Kaplansky, Glen Phillips, Maria Taylor, Vanessa Carlton and Okkervil River.

Hunter Films, a company established by Alan and Hugh Hunter, initially had its headquarters at WorkPlay. Alan Hunter, a Birmingham native, made his fame as one of the original MTV VJs and has a longtime interest in film. He and brother Hugh were the co-producers of 2002′s “Johnny Flynton,” an Oscar-nominated short filmed in Birmingham.

In 2008, WorkPlay’s momentum began to slow and the venue started to feel the economic pinch. A building foreclosure loomed, Alan Hunter told AL.com, and he and he brothers started to search for a buyer for WorkPlay.

Tom Williams Jr. and his brother Clark Williams — sons of the late Tom Williams and former vice presidents at one of Birmingham’s largest auto dealerships — came to WorkPlay’s rescue, buying the complex in 2011 and vowing to turn it around. Later, Clark made an exit and Tom Williams Jr. and his wife were at WorkPlay’s helm.

Under the Williams regime, WorkPlay began to thrive again, with a concert calendar that included acts such as Jack White, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Moon Taxi, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Shakey Graves, Against Me!, Hurray for the Riff Raff and many more. Special events revved up and the other aspects of WorkPlay followed suit.

One highlight, Tom Williams Jr. told AL.com, came in 2016 when Bob Dylan arrived for a video shoot at WorkPlay, recording the song “Once Upon a Time” for an NBC TV special, “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come.” Williams also recalled a night in 2011 when Isbell brought two special guests to WorkPlay: late-night TV host David Letterman and bandleader Paul Shaffer.

“It was a great 12 years for us, but it’s time to move on,” Williams said on Thursday. “We’ll miss the people and the employees, the great customers, the fans, the music and talent coming through.”

Williams said he’s fielded inquiries from folks who wanted to turn the building into condos, but he was hoping for a buyer who’d keep WorkPlay’s entertainment focus in mind.

“I’m so glad that Johnny Grimes and his team bought it,” Williams said. “They’re the right people for WorkPlay. We brought it back (in 2011) and they’re going to take it to a different level.”

WorkPlay’s agenda has been relatively quiet in recent years, especially after the coronavirus pandemic brought the concert industry to a near-standstill in 2020.

In 2023, WorkPlay has presented just two or three shows per month and hosted some special events. Williams said recent movie productions (including Matthew McConaughey’s “The Rivals of Amziah King”) have used the facilities at WorkPlay, but the filmmakers wanted to keep it under wraps.

If WorkPlay has seemed sleepy of late, Grimes and his partners aim to change all that. All five bring valuable skills and expertise to WorkPlay’s revival, Grimes said, from real estate development and business savvy to recording experience and concert promotion.

Grimes, for example, is a managing partner at Furnace Fest, the annual hardcore music festival at Birmingham’s Sloss Furnaces. He’s also the owner of Wheelhouse Salon and involved in other business ventures. When WorkPlay is ready to roll again, Grimes said, the partners will have “well over $4 million” into the deal.

“A lot’s on the line,” Grimes said. “There are no huge, deep pockets here. It’s a group of passionate people who care about the arts and music scene in Birmingham. … The team here is highly capable, and ready to come together and contribute to the success of this business.”