Are apartments allowed in downtown Birmingham?
Yes. Housing is built into Birmingham's downtown districts. The B2 family of general business districts permits dwellings, including multiple-family units and, with conditions, one- and two-family units, along with live/work units and hotels. B4 is a Business-Residential district and B3 pairs offices with residential (§ 1.10). MX, the mixed use district, combines residential with nonresidential uses.
Within the Downtown Birmingham Overlay, height zones D2 through D5 steer residential to the upper floors (§ 3.04):
- D2: the third story must be residential only
- D3: a taller middle tier
- D4: the fifth story must be residential only
- D5: governed by D4, with an abutting-height exception available by special land use permit
The Regulating Plan controls which height zone applies to a given parcel (§ 3.02). Check the map before assuming a floor count.
Sources
Full text: Birmingham ordinance on enCodePlus. Applies to districts: B2, B2B, B2C, B3, B4, MX.
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