A building that once showcased artwork now showcases homes for Ingram, the residential sales and marketing arm of developer Daniel Corp. The new location is called Daniel Homes-Ingram New Home Gallery.

With new furniture on order, Margie Ingram says by mid-August all employees will be moved in and the place will be “looking good.” After Ingram & Associates merged with Daniel in 2003, “we’ve just been growing like crazy,” says Ingram. The company has doubled in size since then, and that’s what led to the decision to consolidate operations in Mountain Brook. In addition, Ingram last week opened a temporary downtown office on Richard Arrington Boulevard until it can move into permanent space in the City Federal Building in 45-60 days.

As for Mountain Brook, Ingram says she feels a kinship with the building, which has been around since the 1920s or earlier. It was redesigned by architect Bill Ingram (no relation) about eight years ago. The building once housed the Mercedes repair shop of a colleague of Ingram’s late father, Jack Ingram, and has also housed accounting offices and a drug store.

Ingram laughs when asked how the new location compares to the last, which she says had only 300 square feet. The new building has 3,500.

‘Minimalist’ style works Employees from the firm’s office at The Narrows on U.S. Highway 280 will move to Mountain Brook; in addition to the eight or so fulltime employees, about 15-20 agents will report to the new location. Besides adding some electrical outlets for telephones and computers, Ingram says, the space will stay as it is. “All the furniture that we had before doesn’t really fit,” she says.

White panels fronting Cahaba Road that once displayed artwork now are projected with an Ingram logo visible at night, and Ingram says the company is considering installing flat-screen TVs there showing the various available properties.

With its limestone desks, concrete floors, exposed duct work and track lighting, the new space has very much of a “minimalist” look, Ingram says.

The landscaping features gravel, hedges and Japanese maple trees. Streams of water trickle into a pair of vessels at the entrance, and limestone benches and giant limestone balls contribute to the ambiance.

“It’s an experience,” Ingram says, “a wonderful working environment.”

kwilkinson@bizjournals.com – (205) 443-5637

I believe that it is important to the Birmingham condominium market and, specifically, the downtown housing market, as well as the entire real estate community, that the public understand that the recent auction of City Federal is not representative of the current values and image of condominiums in Birmingham.

Although perhaps not on the scale of Atlanta and other large metropolitan areas, Birmingham has firmly embraced the condominium lifestyle since its introduction here in the 1980s.

While the overall real estate market is currently less than spectacular, and the condominium market is following that trend, much of that was the result of the downturn in the national economy and only minimally the result of overly enthusiastic production and pricing. We have seen in recent months that the excess inventory is being absorbed. So we are very optimistic that the housing market, the new home market and the condominium market are all on their way to recovery.

City Federal is a unique property and a landmark in the city of Birmingham. The original introduction of these condominiums was well received and we believe that had the housing downturn not occurred the building would have approached sellout two years ago.

When a landmark building such as this is sold far below replacement cost and far below the comparable values that have been recently achieved in nearby properties, then that can only be an aberration in the market and not a reality.

Margi Ingram
Vice Presidential Sales and Marketing
Daniel Homes/Ingram and Associates LLC