St Modwen set for next phase of Longbridge development
St Modwen is preparing to submit its plans for the next phase of its Longbridge development later this year.
Guy Gusterson, St Modwen’s property director for Midlands and North, was speaking at TheBusinessDesk.com’s property networking lunch at the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham today, sponsored by MHA MacIntyre Hudson.
Gusterson told guests how a complete change in the stock market-listed developer’s strategy in 2017 led to a new way of thinking, a streamlining of assets, a rebranding and investment in training, wellbeing and development.
St Modwen had a £1.8bn national portfolio of 200 assets and over the past two years has sold assets it held that were making less than a 6% return totalling £800m. This has led to the company concentrating on four strands; Strategic Land and Regeneration, Industrial and Logistics, Residential and Asset Management.
This strategic shift has repositioned the company, says Gusterson, into a purpose-led organisation that ‘not just makes money, but changes futures’. He says that its landmark regeneration project at Longbridge, which redeveloped part of the Rover car plant between 2007-2010, is now about to enter its second stage with a more joined up approach.
“We are now focusing on placemaking: we are making Longbridge a destination that serves a purpose to its community and replaces some of the jobs that were lost during the closure of Rover,” he said. “What we ended up with after the first stage of developments was piecemeal. Now we’ve had a change in our business culture, and it’s made us look at Longbridge differently.”
St Modwen has been organising far more community events at Longbridge over the past two years and one of the successes has been involving the popular Digbeth Dining Club in fortnightly street food events over the summer, attracting crowds of 5,000 at a time.
Gusterson, who has held senior roles with St Modwen for more than a decade, said he and his colleagues would be looking at the project holistically over the summer and submitting plans to Birmingham City Council in December. They hope to start work on the old West Wing of the car factory in the second half of 2020, which will include a river walk from the current development, leisure attractions and residential developments.
