Golden builds new home in old utility building

The Birmingham News

July 5, 2005

Golden & Associates Construction is renovating a vacant building at 2214 First Ave. South to create a new headquarters for the growing firm.

The two-story, 10,000-square-foot former Birmingham Water Works mechanical and electrical building will be Golden's new home after a $1 million renovation. The company will move late this summer from its 3,000-square-foot offices in the Bebco building across the street, another renovation project Golden worked on.

Greg Pyburn, vice president at Golden, said renovating a downtown building for its new home was a natural move, since downtown renovation and construction projects have made up a large part of the firm's work.

"That's certainly a niche we're in," he said. "We do a fair amount of work downtown and that has helped to fuel the pace of our growth."

Growing Up

That growth has been rapid since the company was founded in 1997.

The firm had six employees and $1 million in revenue that first year; it now has 40 employees and generated $17.5 million in revenue in 2004.

"This move was really necessary due to our growth," said founder and president Geoff Golden.

In addition to its own headquarters, Golden is handling the 2600 Highland Condominiums project and renovations of the Jefferson Lofts condo project. The company is also building the $4.2 million athletic and multipurpose facilities at Spain Park High School.

It has handled multimillion-dollar projects at UAB, the Birmingham Zoo and a number of school projects in the metro area.

The $6 million renovation of a historic Chamber of Commerce building into lofts and offices now known as Jemison Flats really helped Golden make a mark on downtown renovation in 2003.

Geoff Golden's appreciation of the character and appeal of downtown buildings and the growing remaking of First Avenue South in particular made tackling the former Water Works project the right project now, he said.