AC Hotel Birmingham Brown Marx

AC Hotel Birmingham Brown Marx will occupy 190 rooms of the historic 1906 Brown Marx Tower, sharing the building with an Element hotel in a 338-room dual-branded conversion by Ascent Hospitality. Construction was still under way in September 2026 with no confirmed opening date.

The place

Brown Marx Tower, at the intersection of 20th Street North and 1st Avenue North in downtown Birmingham, known as the 'Heaviest Corner on Earth'.

The concept

The Brown Marx Tower was completed in 1906 as a 16-story, 210-foot building and was Birmingham's tallest for three years until the Empire Building rose in 1909; its owner doubled its size in 1908. It sat vacant and deteriorating into the 2000s until Ascent Hospitality acquired it in 2018. The redevelopment started in 2019, and in late 2023 Peachtree Group provided $49.8 million in construction financing.

The result will be a 338-room dual-branded hotel: 190 rooms under the AC Hotel by Marriott flag, aimed at business travellers, and 148 under Element by Marriott (listed separately here). A full-service Starbucks approved by the city's Design Review Committee will occupy the corner at 20th Street North and 1st Avenue North. Earlier opening targets of 2025 and 2026 passed, and construction was still under way in September 2026 with no firm date published.

Dining & wellness

No restaurant has been announced for the hotel beyond a full-service Starbucks on the 20th Street corner.