Hunter House moving to new Woodward site

One of Birmingham’s iconic businesses – Hunter House Hamburgers – will soon be moving from its original location at 35075 Woodward Avenue to the former home of a KFC at 33900 Woodward.

The move was announced this past week in a release from co-owner Kelly Cobb, who said that Friday, October 31 will be the last day at the original location. According to Cobb, Hunter House hamburgers will begin operations at its new locale on November 1.

The new location, Cobb said will provide faster service, more seating than the current location and a larger parking lot for patrons. First opened in 1952, the business at the new location plans to continue offering what has built its reputation for the past seven decades.

The firm of von Staden Architects has been retained to work on the new location which will be ready for full interior operations in early 2026, although effective with the November move customers will still be able to order food from Hunter House Hamburgers.

Hunter House Hamburgers has been tangled up in a dispute, which also included a lawsuit, over a proposed development of its current site at the corner of Woodward and Hamilton, considered an important gateway to the downtown of Birmingham. A lawsuit involving Hunter House and the owner of the property was filed in 2023 and was finally resolved in February of this year.

The city and its Birmingham Planning Board have been dealing with proposals for development at the prime corner property from about 2016. In 2018 plans were presented to the city for a five-story building on the site, which included the Hunter House as part of the new development. The development was to also include first floor retail, a hotel and residential units on the top floors. Design issues prompted the developers to scrap those plans and new plans were submitted to the city in 2019.

The subsequent plans also called for a five-story building, this time with two levels of underground parking, first floor retail, commercial and parking; second floor office use; with the third through fifth floors used for 42 residential units. Those plans were amended in January and April of 2020. In June of 2021 the planning board approved site plans for development of the site to include retail, commercial and office and 25 residential units.