In an email announcement released yesterday, MAKEbhm, the popular and innovative “makers and creatives” work space is growing and expanding into the building that was previously Old Car Heaven. The new space will be called M2.

Renown for offering access to art-making equipment, classes and work space, MAKEbhm is also home to Alabama Sawyer, the local woodworking company that was honored by Garden & Gun magazine as the overall winner of their “Made in the South” awards.

Here is excerpt of the announcement by MAKEbhm:

As MAKEbhm has grown over the last few years, we’ve learned a lot about what makers want and need, whether that’s a space away from home to do work, or a home for their business that’s flexible enough to help the business grow. One challenge that many small maker enterprises face is the need for a large amount of space for their production, but also the desire to be part of a creative community every day. With this challenge in mind, Bruce Lanier, founder and owner of MAKEbhm, as well as Tom Carruthers of Red Rock Realty Group and Grant Brigham of ARC Realty, have acquired the building that was recently Old Car Heaven. They will be creating M2, a first-of-its-kind workplace designed for emerging businesses and entrepreneurs in light manufacturing and product design. Just a few blocks toward downtown from MAKEbhm, M2 will have dedicated tenant spaces and shared common areas—similar to MAKEbhm, but larger in scale—and is planned to have retail and event spaces as the project moves along.

The current MAKEbhm space will remain and continue to host rental space for small scale artists and makers. They will also grow their co-working office space and provide equipment access to the community. Additionally, MAKEbhm’s goals will be expanding their studio memberships, class offerings and number of creative local events.

These are exciting times for the “makers” among us in Birmingham.

Interested in learning more about MAKEbhm’s new M2 ? Email them at: Contact@m2bhm.com

Pat Byington Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.