By james art Birmingham has acquired the rights to purchase a former Pepsi distribution site as a storage facility for firefighting equipment.
Birmingham City Council this week approved the lease of a former Buffalo Rock Co. distribution center building. for Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service and Police operations and equipment.
The city will lease the 109,000-square-foot warehouse and office building at 34 West Oxmoor Road from owner Edward B. Lumpkin Jr., with an option to purchase for $7 million. The warehouse is adjacent to a Kroger grocery delivery warehouse.
“This storage space is extensive and kind of ideal for storing the equipment that is used by our first responders, whether it’s training equipment, vehicles, what have you,” said City Council President Darrell O’Quinn. “The City of Birmingham has a lot of equipment that needs to be stored and secured.”
The city’s lease is for six months, from October 2024 to April 30, 2025, at a rent of $45,000 per month.
“I think the option to eventually purchase the facility is something that is very much needed because our current equipment management facility is sandwiched between a road and rail and there is limited space to expand operations,” O’Quinn said.
Lumpkin, owner of Lumpkin Development and Metro Mini Storage, said he bought the former Buffalo Rock buildings when Buffalo Rock sold them in 2021. Buffalo Rock then moved nearby to the former Bruno grocery headquarters campus, he said .
“I bought all the buildings they dumped at once,” Lumpkin said. “I bought the building next door and put a Kroger in it.”
After purchasing the 34 West Oxmoor building from Buffalo Rock, Lumpkin said he used it for general commercial storage. “I was thinking of putting a Metro Mini in there,” he said of his warehouse facility business, which has locations around the metro area. “The city came along with that need, and I can go elsewhere.”
Lumpkin said the property would also be ideal for police or fire training. “I think they’re going to do some training there,” he said.