Innovation Birmingham’s iCentrum building in for planning
INNOVATION Birmingham Campus’s expansion plans are gathering pace with the news that the long-mooted iCentrum building is in for planning.
An application has been submitted to Birmingham City Council planners for what is in effect an expansion of the Innovation Birmingham Campus via a new building on land next to the existing site.
It will also be the first speculative office development in the city for four years.
Funding is in place for the 38,000 sq ft building, enabling construction work to start as soon as planning approval is granted.
It has been suggested that the new businesses in iCentrum will create 400 high-value skilled tech jobs, generating £25m of GVA to the local economy per annum.
The Innovation Birmingham Campus is wholly owned by Birmingham City Council. A commercial loan for the £7.5m construction and fit-out costs has been secured from the council.
Following a tender process, iCentrum will be delivered by Stourport-on-Severn headquartered Thomas Vale Construction.
Sir Albert Bore, leader, Birmingham City Council said: “I am delighted with the progress that Innovation Birmingham has made in developing its concept for iCentrum.
“This scheme will be central Birmingham’s first speculative development since the completion of The Cube in 2010 and it signifies new market confidence and adds demonstrable substance to the recent focus on Birmingham as a ‘tech city’.”
Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of Innovation Birmingham, said: “We have been actively promoting the proposals for the iCentrum building for the best part of four years, so to now have funding secured and a planning application lodged is a significant milestone.
“It may only be a 38,000 sq ft building, but it will have an international reach from the day it opens.
“The top floor will feature a range of self-contained, highly flexible office suites for growing entrepreneurial tech companies. The first floor will be home to our new Serendip incubator, which will deliver a rich blend of disruptive innovation across four key sectors in a truly smart city.
“The ground floor and mezzanine level will be the place to meet, be innovative, do business, and launch a new tech start-up in Birmingham. It will be a magnet for physical and virtual communication; the lighthouse for Birmingham’s Smart City agenda.”
The vacant brownfield plot in Love Lane is one of 26 sites covered by Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP’s Enterprise Zone.
It will be one of the first Enterprise Zone developments to get underway and will enable its future occupiers to benefit from business rates relief.
