Deal unlocks new plans for £150m city centre scheme
REVISED plans have been prepared for an important new £150m mixed-use scheme in Birmingham city centre.
Sterling Property Ventures has confirmed it is drawing up the new plans for the Great Charles Street development site, dubbed Great Charles Place.
The property developer has agreed a deal with Birmingham City Council to acquire the two-acre pay-and-display car park site, which fronts the A38 Queensway and is bounded by Ludgate Hill, Lionel Street and Livery Street.
Sterling has worked with the council’s planning and development teams to design a new scheme for the site after initial proposals were tabled during a public consultation exercise last autumn.
The new plans include a residential tower, comprising more than 432 build-to-rent apartments, which will replace the 250,000 sq ft office tower originally proposed. In addition, there will be 146 serviced apartments, a 126-bed hotel and ground floor retail space.
The £150m scheme will be set around a new public square, accessible from and enhancing the streetscape along Ludgate Hill.
Waheed Nazir, Birmingham City Council’s strategic director for the economy, is responsible for delivering council leader John Clancy’s pledge to build thousands of new homes in the city.
He said: “Over the next 15 years the city requires a significant number of new homes to meet the needs of its growing population and support its economic growth agenda.
“It is vital that Birmingham remains attractive to inward investors by providing the right workspace as well as the homes and quality of life.
“We have a healthy pipeline of office development in the city centre and the significant commitments at Arena Central, Paradise, Three Snowhill and 103 Colmore Row are hugely important.”
He said the city also needed to see investment in residential schemes and the council look to support any developments that helped it to achieve its aspirations.
A detailed planning application for the Great Charles Street site is expected to be submitted by the end of this year, following a further public consultation process.
James Howarth, managing director of Sterling Property Ventures, said: “We are thrilled to have finally agreed the acquisition of the Great Charles Street site.
“Our new plans for the scheme have been evolved over the past few months and we look forward to unveiling them in the autumn.”
Sterling Property Ventures is also behind the development of 103 Colmore Row, the 26-storey 211,000 sq ft Grade A office tower on the site of the former NatWest Tower, which it is developing in partnership with Rockspring Property Investment Managers.
The Great Charles Place scheme is an attractive one for the council because it will improve an eyesore on the fringe of the city centre, albeit one that generates revenue for the authority.
The close proximity of the new Paradise development is also a major factor in the scheme’s favour.
