MidCity District announces residential-meets-hospitality project

HUNTSVILLE, AL – RCP Companies is introducing a $110 million urban mixed-use development, Anthem House, to occupy Huntsville’s rapidly expanding MidCity District.

Featuring collaborative working, living and social offerings targeted to the growing young workforce in North Alabama, the project will feature 330 apartment units, 35,000 square feet of creative office space and 32,000 square feet of street-level retail. Anthem House is designed to provide Huntsville’s expanding skilled workforce with a residential-meets-hospitality solution with furnished units, shorter lease contracts, and vibrant, hotel-like surroundings and amenities.

Named as a nod to MidCity’s music theme, Anthem House plays into the district’s energy, steps from live music, dining, shopping, entertainment and community events.

“Anthem House is a lifestyle opportunity blending residential and hospitality for an innovative hybrid product appealing to Huntsville’s growing young workforce,” said RCP Co-Founder Max Grelier. “It’s boutique, social and has an open door to MidCity. The loft warehouse aesthetic feels refined, seamless and stylish, all while being in the center of the action.”

In a study of 43 different U.S. markets undertaken by RCLCO Real Estate Advisors, Huntsville’s workforce demographic resembles cities such as Denver, Austin and San Francisco that offer an equally high concentration of corporate housing to sustain their workforce. The multifamily hospitality niche meets the demands of the remote and contract workforce with industrial-modern styled units in a social location with furnished and shorter lease contracts. 

Grelier noted, “Currently, Huntsville has a housing deficit that is accentuated by the continued job growth in the market. The shift in consumer preferences, particularly among millennials, is driving demand for more hospitality features within real estate projects, including more amenities, hosting events and activities which bring residents together. Anthem House’s unique multifamily hospitality product, embedded in the MidCity District, is well-positioned to fill this gap.”

Home to major regional employers including Redstone Arsenal and Cummings Research Park, Huntsville boasts twice the amount of government jobs per capita than any other city in the country. Huntsville was recently ranked The No. 1 Place to Live in the country by U.S. News & World Report for its quality of life, job market and affordability. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Huntsville experienced the largest population growth among cities in Alabama and surpassed Birmingham as the state’s largest city.

Anthem House will mark the latest installment in RCP’s broader plan to create a place to live, work, play and stay in MidCity. Over the next five years, private investment in MidCity is expected to exceed $1.5 billion.

“The layers throughout MidCity are designed to bring people together in unexpected ways through their normal, day-to-day behaviors, and Anthem House attracts a new, previously overlooked audience of the tech and corporate workforce and fresh energy,” said Nadia Niakossary, RCP’s senior director of development. “We actively search for gaps in the market and seek to fill them through our developments and tenants, pushing the envelope for Huntsville to attract the next generation of residents.”

RCP plans to release more project details and renderings upon breaking ground later this fall with full project completion expected by early 2025. For more information, visit MidCityDistrict.com.