2nd Avenue Storage

Walk to Your Storage Unit

Located in Birmingham, AL, 2nd Avenue Storage is the Loft District's source for all your storage and secure parking needs.
Please make an appointment to come see us next door to El Barrio.

Customer Testimonials

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"This has been incredibly convenient for us over these past 4 years."

- Marc G., 2nd Avenue Storage Customer

"Great storage area… We were very satisfied with the storage unit over the several years we rented it.”

-Roy R., 2nd Avenue Storage Customer

COVID-19 Policies

During the pandemic, 2nd Avenue Storage customers may still access their units 7 days a week between the hours of 7am and 10pm.

We are also still accepting new rental clients. Please contact us to make an appointment.

We ask that while you are inside the facility that you wear a mask and maintain social distancing.

Urban Standard is Reopening!

We've been missing Urban Standard, and excited to hear this morning that they are reopening Monday, April 24 at 7:00am! Urban has been a huge supporter of our neighborhood for years, so please go visit them as soon as they open back up. For those of you who are new to the neighborhood since Urban has been under renovation, and/or spent considerable time under a rock, they are located at 2320 2nd Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35203.
Update 4/21/2017- The opening date has been pushed back to April 26th

 

New Morris Avenue Loft for Rent

Location, location, location! Walking distance to grocery, restaurants and parks. This 1/1 located on one of the oldest streets in Birmingham is now available for rent. All new kitchen with stainless steel new appliances. Comes with one secure indoor parking space. Has elevator and rooftop deck access. Call Carrie Hill Smith for more info..205-533-4455 sorry no pets/ $30 credit/background check/ $1800 security deposit 

Update- This unit has been rented.

 

Mystery Solved

The night before Artwalk, Artefact Supply had its grand opening in the Counts Brothers Building. Several hundred people walked through the doors to see what all the fuss was about. Artefact is an upscale casual men's clothing store, with a look aimed at young professionals. Artefact's owner Brandon Hays is particularly committed to supporting local designers. 

For more information about Brandon and Artefact, take a look at AL.com's great write up, or visit Artefact's website.

 

 

 

Volunteer for Artwalk September 9th and 10th!

Birmingham Artwalk, set for September 9 &10 is celebrating our 15 years of transforming downtown Birmingham into a walkable art gallery in STYLE! But, we need your help to make it the best year yet. Sign up TODAY to volunteer for a short shift at Birmingham Artwalk and you'll get a FREE ticket to our Artwalk After Party, featuring Matthew DeVine and a stellar cast of Birmingham's musical talent! Plus, food and drinks to thank you for your time over the weekend!

Sign up here!

Mystery Shop

The Mystery Machine

The Mystery Machine

If you've passed by 2nd Avenue Storage or eaten at El Barrio lately, you may have noticed our lobby windows have been covered. We are excited to announce we have a new retail neighbor who will be opening up soon. What kind of shop? Well, we're sworn to secrecy but all will be revealed September 8th, so stop by for the grand opening!

You're Invited to the Soft Opening of Glimmer

 

Read More

We Hosted Karen Libecamp at Artwalk!

People came from all over the metro area to enjoy Artwalk this past weekend. Karen Libecamp showed her work in The Wade Smith Foyer Gallery. Karen has recently been featured on MTV News and The Huffington Post, so we were honored to host somebody super famous. She was very successful, even in spite of Friday night's rain. Saturday had a steady stream of traffic in all of the venues, and The Gallery was no exception. Everybody loved Karen's miniature paintings. If you weren't able to come out or missed Karen's work, you can catch up (and maybe even purchase) some up at her website or come by The Gallery; her work will be displayed all month!

Birmingham Artwalk

Birmingham Artwalk

Karen Libecap got tons of traffic at The Wade Smith Foyer Gallery 

Karen Libecap got tons of traffic at The Wade Smith Foyer Gallery 

There was a line down the block to get into the after party.

There was a line down the block to get into the after party.

Come to Artwalk this Weekend!

Artwalk is an arts festival that transforms Birmingham's loft neighborhood into an arts district, featuring the work of more than 100 visual artists, live musicians, street performers, food and drink vendors, and children's activities.

The event is free to the public and in the last three years has become a much anticipated fall event drawing visitors from all over to downtown Birmingham. For the past two years, more than 10,000 people walked the streets of downtown during the two-day event.

Through the good will of area businesses and the work of a dedicated staff of volunteers, Artwalk hosts established and emerging regional artists in the unique and architecturally rich setting of downtown Birmingham. Art lovers will see original work in all mediums priced from the affordable to the extravagant. Participating artists are predominantly from Birmingham and surrounding communities, showcasing the wealth of regional talent.

People of all ages can enjoy being downtown at a safe, family-friendly, community event. Friday night has been compared to a huge gallery opening with a street festival atmosphere, while Saturday afternoon caters more to the family crowd with special children's activities.

-From Artwalk's website. For more information, including a list of Artists and Musicians performing, go to Artwalk's website at http://www.birminghamartwalk.org/

Loft for Sale or Rent on Historic Morris Avenue

To Rent Call: (205) 533-4455 

On any given Sunday you can look down from the window of this loft and see photographers taking pictures of historic Morris Avenue. Cobblestone, Gaslight style streetlights, and trains make you feel like you've gone back in time, even though you're within walking distance of Downtown's newest amenities like Railroad Park and Regions Field. The rooftop deck is the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon grilling out with friends, but if you'd rather someone else do the cooking you can walk to plenty of neighborhood restaurants like El Barrio and Urban Standard.

FEATURES

  • Elevator

  • Rooftop deck

  • Washer/Dryer

  • Parking: Secured indoor attached garage (1 space) with additional parking in outside lot

  • Cooling: Central

  • Monthly rent includes water, trash pick up

FACTS

  • 1 bed, 1 bath 1150 square feet

  • Rent: $1500/month

  • Available now

  • Lease: One Year

  • Deposit & fees: 1500

  • Pets: No

  • Non Smoking Building

Update- This unit has been rented.

All New! All Different! Electrical Outlets!

More and more clients are using their spaces here at 2nd Avenue Storage as more than just a place to put their old furniture and clothes. The western hall is quickly turning into Artists' Row, with more and more people using our units as studios. We have hosted painters, illustrators, mixed media artists, woodworkers, and even a personal recording studio. We have one customer whose home office got too big for his home and set up shop inside a 9x9 unit (we offer wi-fi for a $10/month adder). We're especially excited about our newest customer who will be teaching piano lessons out of her storage unit. Should I keep calling them "storage" units? Maybe I need to change the name to 2nd Avenue Studio Spaces.

With all the new activity, we decided that Artists' Row needed some electrical outlets. Previously anyone needing electricity had to string an extension cord down to the lonely single outlet by the bathroom. No longer! We just added outlets down the eastern wall. 

If you need a space at 2nd Avenue Studio Spaces (or have suggestions on a better name) give us call at 205-332-1624.

Works every time...

Works every time...


2014 Crime Statistics in Downtown Birmingham

10 years ago when I told people I lived downtown, the first thing they would ask is "aren't you scared?" It's been a long time since anyone asked me that; now they ask "Where do you buy groceries?" The perception that downtown is dangerous has diminished a lot over these 10 years and even without numbers you can tell simply by walking down 2nd Avenue on any given Friday night and seeing all the people walking around.

I've written before about people's different definitions of what makes up "downtown" Birmingham, but the area I think of as downtown is pretty analogous to the CAP district even though 2nd Avenue Storage is a block outside of their official coverage area. Despite the perception 10 years ago, even then the crime rate was one of the lowest in the metro area. In 2014, it was the same as Mountain Brook and Vestavia, and lower than Hoover. Take a look at the 2014 numbers on CAP's website.

Beehives on Rooftops in Downtown Birmingham

I was shocked to find out someone was raising bees on a rooftop in Downtown Birmingham. A few weeks ago a new Twitter-er with the handle @citybee followed me. Taking a quick look at their profile told me that they sell honey and list their location as Birmingham. I’ve always heard local honey eases allergies, but even if that’s not true it’s a great excuse to eat honey and I like to support Birmingham area businesses. I followed the link to their website to see where I could buy their honey. Browsing the site, the word “urban” kept popping up and I thought “surely they can’t be raising bees downtown, can they?” A little digging turned up that, sure enough it was downtown and only two blocks away from me. Even crazier, I recognized the address as being the house of my friends Chuck Strahan and Jay McKinney.

I got in touch with Chuck and Jay. They told me that yes, they were raising bees on their roof and selling honey along with creams and balms made from beeswax. They invited the Accordion Player and I over to check out the operation. The hives are on the roof, three stories up, so the bees’ flightpaths don’t intersect foot traffic in the area. They travel for three miles every direction gathering pollen from trees and other local plants. 

City Bee started out  3 years ago with 10,000 bees. They harvest honey once a year, usually in late spring or July at the latest. The operation has grown and with only two hives last year they produced over 162 pounds of honey. This is an especially impressive yield considering they only harvest excess honey, leaving the bees with plenty for themselves, instead of supplementing the bees’ diets with sugar water as is common practice with some other producers. The city has ordinances about the number of bee hives a homeowner can keep, so they are looking for creative ways to expand within the city, but in the meantime are setting up more hives and their very own processing facility near Smith Lake.

Recently City Bee redid thier logo and packaging. They approached the UAB Visual Marketing Department, and students came up with some simple, very modern, looking designs. I think the new packaging looks extremely classy and professional.

City Bee sells their honey and beeswax products in the neighborhood at Charm and Sojourns. You can also catch them at Pepper Place on the weekend of May 16th. If you prefer to buy honey in your underwear, you can order in the comfort of your home directly from their website

The honey was delicious and gone in about a week. I don't know that it did anything for my allergies, but they have been so bad this year I'm not sure anything would help. 

I’ve especially enjoyed the lip balm. It has a nice Lemongrass scent and goes on easily. 

I also bought the Earth Element Body Butter. It’s a great moisturizer and I love the texture. I’m not the biggest fan of patchouli and the scent was a little strong for me, so next time I am going to try either the Jasmine & Cypress or Lavender & Lemongrass scents instead.

It's exciting to have another creative business downtown, and who would have thought to put beehives on a rooftop? What a great idea!

Rhodes Carroll Loft for Rent or Sale

Loft 303
2217 2nd Avenue N
Birmingham, AL

Traditional loft with exposed brick and beams, and original hardwood floors.  1 bedroom, 1 bath, with bonus loft that could be a semi private guest bedroom.  Rooftop deck and one secure indoor parking space. Walking distance to market, dry cleaning, post office, restaurants, nightlife, and Railroad and Regions Parks!

  • Pet deposit is $200 (non refundable)

  • No smoking unit

  • Security deposit- 1 month's rent, to be returned at end of lease if in great condition

  • Monthly rent: $1600, includes water, sewer and trash

Contact Carrie Hill at 205-533-4455 or carrieatune@mac.com.

Update- This unit has been sold.