Land deal paves way for 1,200-home city centre development

Plans for a major multimillion-pound city living development in Wolverhampton have taken a step forward with the agreed sale of council land to the scheme’s developer.

The Brewers Yard scheme is proposed for ten acres of brownfield land neighbouring University of Wolverhampton’s Springfield Campus.

It is a joint venture between developer Court Collaboration, City of Wolverhampton Council and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Heads of terms have been agreed on the sale of City of Wolverhampton’s Culwell Street site to Court Collaboration, subject to approval by the council’s cabinet, as the first phase of the development. WMCA are working towards securing the remainder of the land necessary for the development.

Court Collaboration is also set to start pre-planning application discussions with the council, with works set to start on site in 2020.

Brewers Yard will see a mixture of 1,200 city houses and apartments, and 60,000 sq ft of new retail and commercial space, designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects.

The expected economic benefit to the City of Wolverhampton from the scheme is £250m (Gross Development Value).

Anthony McCourt, CEO and founder of Court Collaboration, said: “Court are delighted to agree and sign our joint venture with City of Wolverhampton Council at Brewers Yard.

“After months of intensive and constructive dialogue and design development we believe we now have a composite regeneration plan that will do justice to the inspiring aspiration for Brewers Yard, which launched at MIPIM earlier this year.

“We will now work hand in glove with the West Midlands Mayor and WMCA to realise this exciting, next-level opportunity and hope to begin planning pre-app discussions with City of Wolverhampton Council as early as next week – there is no time to lose in making this residential dream come alive.”

Cllr Harman Banger, cabinet member for city economy, added: “This is an important step in delivering this game-changing scheme for the City of Wolverhampton.

“The Brewers Yard development will deliver top-quality living at the heart of our city, with connectivity to state-of-the-art transport facilities.

“It will have easy access to a re-invented city centre providing a great leisure and sporting offer, a vibrant public events programme, outstanding arts and culture offer, and a thriving commercial district with well-paid jobs.

“It is part of £4.4bn of investment in the City of Wolverhampton that is also delivering jobs and opportunities for local people of all ages.”