The Birmingham City Council approved over $1 million in funds from the Birmingham Parking Authority to renovate an abandoned parking garage for a local restaurant.
Yo Momma’s, currently on Second Avenue North in Downtown Birmingham, will now be moving several blocks over to the ground floor of a parking garage on Fourth Avenue North.
At its Tuesday morning meeting, the Birmingham City Council approved the plan, projected to cost $1.7 million. The city will cover over three-quarters of the cost, promising $1.3 million for the project’s completion. Yo Momma’s will contribute around $400,000. It will then lease the space from the Parking Authority.
According to Birmingham’s director of innovation and economic opportunity Cornell Wesley, the city constructed the parking deck in 1974, but it has been vacant since 2009. The city initially intended to include retail stores in the garage, but those facilities were never completed.
“What’s before you is an incentive agreement with Yo Mommas, but I really don’t want to overstate it because it’s really about investment in ourselves,” Wesley said.
Wesley insisted that even if Yo Momma’s were to decide it no longer wanted to lease the facility, the city could lease the same area to other businesses.
Yo Momma’s serves a variety of food, including seafood, wings, burgers, and chicken and waffles. The new restaurant space will include around 5,760 square feet and 80 to 100 seats, much more than the restaurant currently seats.
When the item was brought up for a vote, no city counselors voted against it.
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