LJCC gets new neighbors as Trinity Hospital property attracts first new tenant

Now that the move of Birmingham’s Trinity Medical Center from its Montclair Road campus to Highway 280 has been approved, there has been concern about what would become of the large property just down the road from the Levite Jewish Community Center, and what Trinity’s loss would mean to the neighborhood’s overall character.

On Oct. 23, Momentum Telecom announced that an incentives package was approved by the city of Birmingham to help them move their headquarters from Shelby County to the 880 Building on the Trinity campus.

Founded in 2001, Momentum offers residential and business voice over IP communications services to both direct subscribers and the wholesale market. Since 2011, Momentum has experienced significant business services growth and rapidly expanded its retail sales channel. The company plans to increase its Birmingham-based workforce by 30 percent over the next four years, further supporting the move into the city.

Momentum plans to be in their new offices by mid-December. There will be about 60 employees initially, with an eye toward future growth. Momentum is the first company announcing plans to move to the Trinity campus, the hospital expects to relocate in 2016.

“We have made a strong commitment to the neighborhoods in the Trinity Medical Center area to help bring high-technology, innovative firms to the campus as Trinity vacates the Montclair Road site over the next two years,” said Birmingham Mayor William Bell. “Momentum Telecom is a perfect example of the type of company we will continue to recruit to the campus.”

Momentum President and CEO Bill Fox said the proximity to Birmingham’s growing downtown was attractive to the company as its sales force expands. “The innovators in the banking, medical and manufacturing industries already located in the downtown region of Birmingham will now have access to a high-tech communications provider that can support their forward-thinking initiatives and power their business communications,” he said.

Further bolstering the area was last year’s opening of Tapestry Park, a 223-unit upscale apartment complex on the old John Carroll property across from Trinity. Sold in August for $32 million, the development is over 90 percent occupied.

The LJCC, which was built in 1957, has a 70-acre campus that also includes the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School and the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Foundation offices.