A 17-story luxury apartment building initially set to begin construction in Birmingham's Southside last year is still in the works, the developer said.

Atlanta-based Cortland Partners and Harbert Realty announced early last year that it was developing a 318-unit luxury apartment building at 2173 Highland Avenue South dubbed Vesta for the Roman goddess of the hearth, a female counterpart to the Vulcan, a symbol of the city of Birmingham.

The development is set to include retail space, likely a restaurant, and a parking deck.

Construction was set to start in summer 2016, but that didn't happen.

The (construction) delay was based on what Cortland Partners felt would enable them to deliver this community into the most optimal market conditions, given construction costs, forecast new supply, and expected demand," Maks Goldenshteyn, a spokesman for the developer, said in an email.

No new construction start date has been set yet.

On Tuesday, the Birmingham City Council approved rezoning the subject property - located at 2163, 2169 and 2173 Highland Avenue and 2150 14th Avenue South - from B-2, General Business District to QB-3, Qualified Community Business District.

The council originally approved this rezoning in 2014, but the final advertisement didn't include qualified conditions on the property, planning staff said, during Tuesday's city council meeting. Tuesday's rezoning replaced the previous action by the council.

Adjacent property owners Frank and Martha Buck filed suit against C.H. Highland and the city of Birmingham in 2015 challenging the 2014 rezoning. They claimed "the actions of the city council were arbitrary and capricious, that the city and the city council should be restrained from taking any action in reliance on the rezoning decision, that the Buck's right to due process and equal protection had been violated, and that certain actions had violated applicable laws and ordinances."

Later that year, the Buck's case was dismissed in Jefferson County Circuit Court. The court concluded that the Bucks were given "actual notice of the rezoning and were given an opportunity to be heard before the ordinance was enacted."

The Alabama Civil Court of Appeals upheld the circuit court's ruling.

According to the developer, the high-rise building will be made up of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The apartments will have high-end finishes like stainless steel appliances and lights over the kitchen islands, Johnson said. The apartment will have amenities like a rooftop pool, fitness center and yoga room.

Updated at 4:14 p.m. to include information on the lawsuit related to the rezoning for the high-rise apartments.