Seniors to be moved from Smithfield Court to Graymont property in early 2026

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Seniors who live in Smithfield Court public housing will have the opportunity to move into new affordable senior housing at the site of the former Graymont Elementary School.

Director of Community Development for the City of Birmingham Meghan Venable-Thomas said they are in the first phase of their Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant program right now. The city was awarded $50 million from HUD last year for the redevelopment of the Smithfield public housing site and neighborhood.

Plans call for replacing 450 units of affordable housing at the Smithfield public housing site by redeveloping mixed use across eight different sites of about 920 units. Those buildings will be demolished once new developments are in place for residents beginning at the site of the former Graymont school.

“You know what I think it’s great, because I think our senior citizen need a better place to stay, there’s so much going on out here,” remarked Valencia O’Neal.

She looks after her elderly auntie and hopes her loved one will want to move into the new affordable apartment units once they are built just down the street.

The former Graymont School has a lot of history:

“One of the first elementary schools to be desegregated in the city of Birmingham,” remarked Venable-Thomas. “So it’s an amazing site with amazing bones, so we’re looking to maintain the school itself, to do an adaptive re-use of that site, and then add an additional new development on the property.”

Plans call for 101 new senior apartments, 16 to be built above an early learning child center, the rest in a new build on the property according to developer Brandon Rule.

“Oh yeah it would be a blessing, it would be a blessing,” said Rule.

Joe Rice Junior, who turns 78 on Friday, when asked about the plans to offer the new units to seniors currently residing at Smithfield Court. The goal is to move the seniors into the new apartments at the Graymont property in 2026.

The cost to renovate the Graymont property and add another building is about $20 million according to Venable-Thomas. The city is kicking in $3.5 million in ARPA funds as gap financing on the Graymont site.

“We’ll close and begin construction early next year,” said Seth Embry, a senior advisor and chief strategist with the city of Birmingham Housing Authority. “And I anticipate probably 15-18 months of construction and then folks will be ready to move from Smithfield Court over to the new buildings.”

The second phase calls for a new build with 150 units for families and seniors on a large piece of property behind Parker High School. The Birmingham City Council recently voted to lease the property for $1 a year for the next 30 years to a new entity consisting of the Birmingham Housing Authority and two developers.

The entire project is an eight-phase project, according to Thomas, and will cost upwards of $100 million.

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