Downtown Birmingham sees economic growth driven by dining, events

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Downtown Birmingham is seeing more people working and playing in the city, leading to economic increases across the board, according to REV Birmingham’s latest report.

“Vibrancy in a place really comes from people,” said David Fleming, REV Birmingham president and CEO. “We believe it’s very important to really track data and know the truth about what’s going on.”

Office occupancy and employee presence increase

The economic nonprofit released its Q3-Q4 2025 Economic Vitality Report showing momentum in the work scene. Office occupancy reached 78%, a 2% increase from the previous year. Class A office occupancy was even stronger at 83%.

The increased office occupancy has led to more employees physically present in downtown. Employee presence increased by 6.6% year over year on the Northside and 4.9% on the Southside, yielding a 5% overall increase.

“It’s definitely still stronger during the middle of the week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday days you see more than Mondays and Fridays,” Fleming said. “As employers are demanding more people be present, I think we’ll see those numbers go up.”

Dining scene drives visitors

Fleming said the real strength of downtown is the culinary scene.

“We have a lot of award-winning restaurants and really the center of the best dining in the state so that is a great asset and feather in our cap in Birmingham,” he said.

The Michelin Guide recognized 15 Alabama restaurants in 2025, 11 of those are in Birmingham. Eight of the recognized restaurants are in downtown Birmingham, and three are in the Lakeview district.

Downtown Birmingham also saw 15 restaurant openings in 2025.

“People — if they want to come somewhere, they usually want to eat at nice places and the fact that we have this really helps attract more visitors to the city,” Fleming said.

Visitor numbers up nearly 10% in December

Downtown’s Historic City Center district saw a 9.5% increase in December visits year over year. The increase is pushing REV to think about how they can create that same momentum during the other 11 months of the year.

“It’s making us think about — are there other times throughout the calendar where there may be gaps when people are here and do we need to fill that gap with something else that will draw people here?” Fleming said.

REV’s latest survey shows the top draws to downtown are dining, arts and cultural events. With big concerts announced this week, the city is hoping to keep up the momentum through this year.

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