Birmingham ยท Downtown & the Heaviest Corner
Elyton Hotel
The 1909 Empire Building on the Heaviest Corner on Earth, called the city's most elaborate Neo-classical skyscraper in its nomination.
- Built
- 1909Built 1909 as the 16-story Empire Building, an office skyscraper; converted to a hotel after sitting empty from 2009.
- Style
- Neo-classical
- Architect
- William L. Welton with William Warren; Carpenter and Blair, New York, associates
- Type
- Boutique hotel
- Rooms
- 117
- Area
- Downtown & the Heaviest Corner
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
The Empire Building was the third of four skyscrapers at the corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North promoted as the Heaviest Corner on Earth. The Empire Improvement Company, led by Robert Jemison Jr., developed it with a mortgage from Metropolitan Life. The nomination calls it the most elaborate Neo-classical skyscraper in the city and architect William Leslie Welton’s most distinctive building. City National Bank bought it in 1965, and it stood empty after Colonial Bank left in 2009. Ascent Hospitality redeveloped it as a hotel, with John T. Campo & Associates as architect.
Good to know
- Parking: on-site paid
- Address: 1928 1st Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.