Excavator Clears Rubble at Former Carraway Hospital

Demolition continues on the 45-acre former Carraway Methodist Medical Center campus as it is redeveloped into The Star at Uptown.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Healthcare

Excavator Clears Rubble at Former Carraway Hospital

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An excavator moved rubble this week at the former Carraway Methodist Medical Center site in Birmingham, where demolition is progressing. Developer Corporate Realty is redeveloping the 45-acre campus into The Star at Uptown, a mixed-use project valued at more than $340 million.

Why it matters

The redevelopment would convert a long-vacant hospital campus in the Norwood neighborhood into a large mixed-use district for Birmingham. Demolition has been delayed, and the project's timeline now runs five to seven years.

The Star at Uptown is a more than $340 million project supported by a $13 million city incentive package. The city approved $3.7 million to complete demolition, but the source does not state the final completion date.

The players

Corporate Realty

Corporate Realty is the developer redeveloping the former Carraway campus into The Star at Uptown.

Birmingham City Council

The Birmingham City Council re-zoned the campus, approved a $13 million incentive package, and approved $3.7 million for demolition.

The details

The former Carraway hospital, a 617-bed facility in the Norwood neighborhood that opened in 1916, closed in 2006, and Physicians Medical Center operated on the campus until 2008. Birmingham re-zoned the campus in 2020, and demolition began in July 2022, with partially torn down structures still standing above a nearby road.

2006: Carraway hospital closed.
2008: Physicians Medical Center closed on the campus.
2020: Birmingham City Council re-zoned the former Carraway campus.
July 2022: Demolition began at the site.
September 2024: Council approved $3.7 million to complete demolition.

Market Landscape

The former Carraway campus illustrates how closed hospital sites in Birmingham have been repurposed for mixed-use development rather than returned to healthcare use. The project follows the 2006 closure of Carraway, which left the 45-acre campus vacant through successive redevelopment attempts.

Residents near Norwood may see continued demolition activity, including partially torn down structures near a nearby road. The redevelopment's five-to-seven-year timeline means construction disruption and new development will affect the area over an extended period.

The takeaway

A large, long-vacant hospital campus in Birmingham is being converted into a mixed-use district, a process that has taken nearly two decades and is expected to take five to seven more years. Its progress will depend on the pace of demolition and the financing support already committed by the city.