Birmingham, AL (Southwest — Oxmoor Valley / Ensley / Five Points West)

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (15 resident reports, 2026-05-25 → 2026-07-22) · ZIP demographics: 77.5% Black, pop 25,267 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Jefferson County Status: Under construction — and under litigation. The Nebius "Birmingham AI Factory" is being built in Oxmoor Valley. A class-action lawsuit filed 2026-05-13 seeks to stop it; a judge has allowed construction to continue for now.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

Fifteen resident reports — the highest count in this Alabama cluster — running 2026-05-25 through 2026-07-22, which brackets exactly the window of the amended lawsuit, the June zoning-ordinance vote, and the July judicial recusal.

• What's being built: a 300 MW AI computing campus by Nebius (Amsterdam-based) on roughly 79–80 acres near Milan Parkway and Venice Road, off Lakeshore Parkway, in Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley. The site is the former Regions Bank operations center, now demolished. (The Birmingham Times; WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Construction has begun. Dozens of excavators and heavy equipment were on the ~80-acre property as of July 2026. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• The zoning fight: residents allege the city let a hyperscale AI facility proceed on mixed-use zoning, without required zoning approvals or public hearings; that grandfathered rights lapsed when the old building was demolished; and that the power substation and switching station never got Zoning Board of Adjustment approval after failing to get sufficient votes at a March 2026 ZBA meeting. They further allege an internal city attorney memo improperly overrode the zoning board. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• The moratorium question: Birmingham began a data center regulatory process on 2025-12-16. A separate legal filing suggests the city helped developers evade that moratorium. (BirminghamWatch, accessed 2026-08-02)
• The outcome: on 2026-06-09 the City Council adopted 20 new data center regulations into the zoning code, 6–3, after nearly three hours of public comment — and the Nebius project is exempt from both the moratorium and the new regulations unless Nebius expands its plans. (WBRC; WBHM, accessed 2026-08-02)

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

Which side of town. Oxmoor Valley is the industrial corridor in southwest Birmingham, running between Red Mountain and Shades Mountain along Lakeshore Parkway. ZIP 35211 covers this southwestern quadrant — Powderly, Green Acres, Oxmoor, and the areas adjoining Five Points West and Ensley. It is a 77.5% Black ZIP immediately adjacent to the affluent, majority-white Hoover/Vestavia side of Shades Mountain. The campus is going up on the Birmingham side of that ridge.

Nearest named neighborhoods in the litigation: Oxmoor Valley and the Oxmoor Glen subdivision. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)

Note on the ZIP boundary: Milan Parkway and Lakeshore Parkway in Oxmoor Valley fall within Birmingham's southwestern ZIP area. This research did not locate an official document stating the site's ZIP code. Exact ZIP of the parcel: Not confirmed as of 2026-08-02. Verify via the Jefferson County parcel viewer or the City Clerk.

Measured distances from the campus boundary to the nearest homes, schools, and churches: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Request the site plan from the City of Birmingham (§8).

2. Public Hearings & Notices

Upcoming — the August 2026 court hearing is the live date. Exact date and courtroom: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Check the Jefferson County Circuit Court docket or call the Circuit Clerk.

Case numbers: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Ask the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk for the case numbers under plaintiff names Madelyn Greene / David Butler, filed 2026-05-13.

The new ordinance's 20 conditions include: prohibiting data centers from using on-site power generators, and limiting excessive water use by requiring closed-loop cooling. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)

Critical caveat for residents: the Nebius project is reported to be exempt from both the moratorium and the new regulations unless Nebius expands its current plans. The rules Birmingham just wrote do not, as reported, apply to the facility already being built in 35211. (WBHM, accessed 2026-08-02)

3. Power

• 300 MW campus. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• On-site substation and switching station are part of the project — and their zoning approval is the specific thing plaintiffs allege never properly happened. The ZBA failed to get sufficient votes at a March 2026 meeting; plaintiffs allege a city attorney memo then improperly overrode the board. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Nebius's position: residents will not see any impact to their electric bills. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Serving utility: Birmingham is in Alabama Power territory. A project-specific Alabama Power filing for this load: Not found as of 2026-08-02.
• Statewide, the ratepayer question is open at the PSC. Alabama PSC Docket 33709, opened 2026-07-08, is a generic proceeding on procedures and standards for reviewing Alabama Power's contracts with large-load data center customers — how incremental costs are calculated, how benefits to other customers are measured, what is public, and whether the PSC monitors after approval. Initial comments were due 2026-08-06; reply comments 2026-08-21. (Alabama PSC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Reporting in July 2026: the public can read Alabama Power's data center contract except the parts that could affect bills. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Birmingham's new ordinance prohibits data centers from using on-site power generators — but per reporting the Nebius project is exempt from those regulations. (WBRC; WBHM, accessed 2026-08-02)

4. Water & Drought

• Nebius's position: water use will be minimal. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Actual gallons per day, peak or average, and the cooling design for this facility: Not found as of 2026-08-02. The city's new ordinance requires closed-loop cooling for regulated data centers, but Nebius is reported exempt from that ordinance.
• Serving utility: Birmingham is served by the Birmingham Water Works Board. A withdrawal permit or capacity study specific to this project: Not found as of 2026-08-02.
• Water use is one of the neighbors' three stated concerns, alongside construction noise and operational impact. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor map valid 2026-06-30 showed Alabama statewide at 86.32% none / 12.19% D0 / 1.50% D1. Jefferson County-specific status: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Check the live map and NWS Birmingham. (U.S. Drought Monitor; NWS Birmingham, accessed 2026-08-02)

5. Population & Who Lives Here

• ZIP 35211: 77.5% Black, population 25,267 (Census ACS 2023, per the project's demographic dataset). This is the largest-population ZIP in this Alabama cluster after Huntsville's 35810.
• Southwest Birmingham — Ensley, Five Points West, Powderly, Green Acres — is the part of the city built around the steel and iron industry and hollowed out by its collapse. It carries a long history of industrial siting and disinvestment.
• The Oxmoor Valley corridor itself is zoned and used industrially, which is precisely the legal argument in dispute: whether mixed-use zoning in that corridor permits a hyperscale AI facility at all.
• Current population trend and poverty rate for 35211: Not independently verified here as of 2026-08-02. Use Census QuickFacts — Birmingham city, Alabama and ACS ZIP-level tables.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

• Tax abatement, PILOT, or incentive package for the Nebius Birmingham project: Not found as of 2026-08-02. No dollar value, term, or approving body was located in public reporting.
• Permanent jobs promised: Not found as of 2026-08-02. No verified permanent-headcount figure was located.
• The land transaction is itself part of the litigation: residents expanded the suit to target a reported $90 million Milan Parkway land flip. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• A ~$7 million permit is among the items plaintiffs ask the court to void. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Statewide context: Alabama's 30-year data center abatement is available only if approved before January 1, 2027 (20 years plus a possible 10-year extension after that). (Yellowhammer News, accessed 2026-08-02)
• 2026 Alabama Senate bills sought to limit data center incentives and require data centers to pay for the energy costs they cause. (WBRC; Alabama Daily News, accessed 2026-08-02)

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

• Litigation is the main channel of opposition here, and it is sustained. Class action filed 2026-05-13; amended 2026-05-25; expanded 2026-05-29; a second suit filed 2026-06-29 challenging the validity of the new regulations; judge recused in July 2026, restarting the trial; hearing resuming August 2026.
• Plaintiffs: Madelyn Greene and David Butler, residents near the site. Relief sought: stop construction and grading, void permits (including a ~$7M permit), and damages for property-value decline and quality-of-life impacts. (The Birmingham Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Neighbors' stated concerns: construction noise, water use, and operational impact once the facility runs; also noise, pollution and falling property values in the suit. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Nebius's commitments: noise-reduction technology, minimal water use, no impact to residents' electric bills; the construction company agreed to limit certain activities to normal business hours. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Nearly three hours of public comment preceded the June 9 council vote — an unusually long comment period, and the ordinance still passed 6–3. (WBRC, accessed 2026-08-02)
• A Bham Now / Bama Buzz survey of 492 Alabamians on data center growth found substantial concern statewide. (Bham Now, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Outlets covering this closely: The Birmingham Times, BirminghamWatch, WBHM (NPR Birmingham), WBRC Fox 6, ABC 3340 I-Team, Bham Now, GovTech.

8. Find Out For Yourself

City of Birmingham

• City Hall: 710 North 20th Street, Birmingham, AL 35203 (birminghamal.gov, accessed 2026-08-02)
• City Council phone: (205) 254-2294 (same source)
• Council meetings: 9:30 a.m. every Tuesday (excluding holidays), Council Chambers, 3rd floor, City Hall (birminghamal.gov, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Agendas: https://www.birminghamalcitycouncil.org/council-meeting-agendas/ (accessed 2026-08-02). Agendas are posted prior to each meeting.
• Video archive: https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-council/council/city-council-meeting-video-portal-archives (accessed 2026-08-02)
• City Clerk's Office: https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-departments/city-clerks-office (accessed 2026-08-02). The Clerk prepares the weekly Council agenda and certifies Council actions. Clerk's name, direct phone and email: Not found as of 2026-08-02 — call (205) 254-2294 and ask.
• Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA): the body whose March 2026 vote is central to the lawsuit. Meeting schedule and agenda URL: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Ask the City Clerk.

Ask these when you call:

1. A copy of the 20 data center regulations adopted 2026-06-09, and written confirmation of exactly which projects are exempt.
2. The ZBA case number and minutes for the March 2026 Nebius substation/switching station item.
3. The building and grading permits issued for the Milan Parkway / Venice Road site, including the ~$7M permit.
4. The approved site plan, so you can measure the distance from your own address.

Courts — the case is live

• Jefferson County Circuit Court (Birmingham Division) — https://www.jccal.org/ (accessed 2026-08-02). Ask the Circuit Clerk for the case filed 2026-05-13, plaintiffs Madelyn Greene and David Butler. Hearings are public. A hearing was reported to resume in August 2026.
• Alabama court records portal: https://www.alacourt.gov/ (accessed 2026-08-02)

Utilities

• Alabama Power (electric) — https://www.alabamapower.com/ · company page on data centers and bills: https://www.alabamapower.com/tools/data-centers-and-bills.html (accessed 2026-08-02)
• Birmingham Water Works Board — https://www.bwwb.org/ (accessed 2026-08-02)

State power regulator — file a comment yourself

• Alabama PSC Docket 33709: https://psc.alabama.gov/docket-33709-public-comment-and-reply-info/ (opened 2026-07-08; initial comments due 2026-08-06, replies 2026-08-21), accessed 2026-08-02

Local news

• The Birmingham Times — https://www.birminghamtimes.com/ (Black-owned, has covered every stage of this case)
• BirminghamWatch — https://birminghamwatch.org/ (nonprofit accountability journalism; strongest documentary coverage of the moratorium)
• WBHM 90.3 — https://www.wbhm.org/ · WBRC Fox 6 — https://www.wbrc.com/ · ABC 3340 — https://abc3340.com/ All accessed 2026-08-02. Specific tip-line numbers and emails: Not found as of 2026-08-02 — use each outlet's contact page.

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

An honest read. Not advice.

A 300 MW AI campus is being built here right now, and the legal question of whether it was ever properly permitted is unresolved. That is an unusual situation. Construction is proceeding under a judge's ruling that it may continue "for now," while a class action seeks to void the permits, a second suit challenges the validity of the city's own regulations, and the trial has restarted after a judicial recusal.

What that means for a buyer in 35211:

• Noise is the most concrete near-term impact. Neighbors' complaints center on construction noise; the contractor has agreed to limit certain activities to normal business hours. Operational noise from a 300 MW campus is a longer-term question the developer says it will address with noise-reduction technology — an assurance, not a measurement.
• The new city rules probably don't protect you here. Birmingham adopted 20 data center regulations on 2026-06-09, including a ban on on-site generators and a closed-loop cooling requirement. Reporting says the Nebius project is exempt unless it expands. If you are buying near this site expecting the new ordinance to govern it, verify that in writing with the City Clerk first.
• Property values are literally in dispute. Plaintiffs are seeking damages for property-value decline. Whether that claim succeeds is unknown, but it means the market question is being litigated in public.
• Water and power impacts are asserted to be minimal by the developer and unquantified in public documents. No gallons-per-day figure, no substation load study, no abatement disclosure was found.

The broader pattern worth naming plainly: the campus sits in a 77.5% Black ZIP on the Birmingham side of Shades Mountain, and it is exempt from the regulations Birmingham wrote in response to it.

What's unresolved as of 2026-08-02: the August 2026 hearing; the validity of the ZBA substation approval; whether the ~$7M permit stands; the $90M land-flip claim; the facility's actual water and noise performance; and whether Nebius expands (which would pull it under the new ordinance).

10. Sources

All accessed 2026-08-02.

1. The Birmingham Times, "Birmingham Residents File Class-Action Lawsuit Over Proposed Nebius AI Facility" (2026-05) — https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2026/05/birmingham-residents-file-class-action-lawsuit-over-proposed-nebius-ai-facility/
2. The Birmingham Times, "Judge Recuses Herself in Birmingham AI Data Center Lawsuit, Forcing Trial to Restart" (2026-07) — https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2026/07/judge-recuses-herself-in-birmingham-ai-data-center-lawsuit-forcing-trial-to-restart/
3. WBRC, "Nebius AI data center construction draws neighbor concerns" (2026-07-09) — https://www.wbrc.com/2026/07/09/nebius-ai-data-center-construction-draws-neighbor-concerns/
4. WBRC, "Oxmoor Valley residents expand lawsuit over Nebius AI factory, target $90M Milan Parkway land flip" (2026-05-29) — https://www.wbrc.com/2026/05/29/oxmoor-valley-residents-expand-lawsuit-over-nebius-ai-factory-target-90m-milan-parkway-land-flip/
5. WBRC, "Birmingham City Council approves data center zoning rules after nearly 3 hours of public comment" (2026-06-10) — https://www.wbrc.com/2026/06/10/birmingham-city-council-approves-data-center-zoning-rules-after-nearly-3-hours-public-comment/
6. BirminghamWatch, "New Legal Filing Suggests Birmingham Helped Developers Evade Data Center Moratorium" (2026-05-28) — https://birminghamwatch.org/2026/05/28/new-legal-filing-suggests-birmingham-helped-developers-evade-data-center-moratorium/
7. BirminghamWatch, "New Lawsuit Against Nebius Data Center Challenges Validity of Regs and Decisions" (2026-06-29) — https://birminghamwatch.org/2026/06/29/new-lawsuit-against-nebius-data-center-challenges-validity-of-regs-and-decisions/ (returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval; content cited via search index)
8. BirminghamWatch, "Battle Against Oxmoor Valley Data Center Fizzles but Residents Left With Concerns" (2026-04-24) — https://birminghamwatch.org/2026/04/24/battle-against-oxmoor-valley-data-center-fizzles-but-residents-left-with-concerns/
9. WBHM, "Battle against Oxmoor Valley data center fizzles but residents left with concerns" (2026-04-25) — https://www.wbhm.org/local-news/2026-04-25/battle-against-oxmoor-valley-data-center-fizzles-but-residents-left-with-concerns
10. WBHM, "Court hearing in case challenging Birmingham data center to resume next month" (2026-07-17) — https://www.wbhm.org/local-news/2026-07-17/court-hearing-in-case-challenging-birmingham-data-center-to-resume-next-month
11. GovTech, "Birmingham, Ala., City Council Addresses Data Center Vote" — https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/birmingham-ala-city-council-addresses-data-center-vote
12. Bhamwiki, "Nebius Birmingham AI factory" — https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Nebius_Birmingham_AI_factory (returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval; listed for readers)
13. Nebius Group N.V., Form 20-F FY2024 (SEC) — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000155837025005991/nbis-20241231x20f.htm
14. Bham Now, "Data center growth in Alabama: 492 Alabamians weigh in" (2026-05-05) — https://bhamnow.com/2026/05/05/data-center-alabama-492-alabamians-weigh-in/
15. Alabama PSC, Docket 33709 — https://psc.alabama.gov/docket-33709-public-comment-and-reply-info/
16. WBRC, "Public can read Alabama Power's data center contract, just not parts that could affect bill" (2026-07-30) — https://www.wbrc.com/2026/07/30/public-can-read-alabama-powers-data-center-contract-just-not-parts-that-could-affect-bill/
17. WBRC, "Alabama Senate bills target data center incentives, utility regulation" (2026-02-05) — https://www.wbrc.com/2026/02/05/alabama-senate-bills-target-data-center-incentives-utility-regulation/
18. Alabama Daily News, "Bills moving to rein in incentives for data centers…" — https://aldailynews.com/bills-moving-to-lessen-state-incentives-for-data-centers-require-them-to-pay-for-energy-increases/
19. Yellowhammer News (abatement-deadline context) — https://yellowhammernews.com/mystery-data-center-could-receive-30-year-tax-break-beside-sacred-selma-march-ground/
20. City of Birmingham, City Council — https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-council
21. City of Birmingham, The Council (meeting schedule) — https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-council/council
22. Birmingham City Council, Council Meeting Agendas — https://www.birminghamalcitycouncil.org/council-meeting-agendas/
23. City of Birmingham, City Clerk's Office — https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-departments/city-clerks-office
24. City of Birmingham, Council meeting video portal & archives — https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/city-council/council/city-council-meeting-video-portal-archives
25. Jefferson County, Alabama — https://www.jccal.org/
26. Alabama Judicial System — https://www.alacourt.gov/
27. Birmingham Water Works Board — https://www.bwwb.org/
28. Alabama Power, "Data Centers and Bills" — https://www.alabamapower.com/tools/data-centers-and-bills.html
29. U.S. Drought Monitor, Alabama — https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?AL
30. NWS Birmingham drought information statements — https://www.weather.gov/bmx/droughtinformationstatement
31. Census QuickFacts, Birmingham city, Alabama — https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/birminghamcityalabama