Property investment firm plans major revamp to Birmingham shopping centre
PROPERTY investor NewRiver is set to give a major revamp to a Birmingham shopping centre just weeks after it disposed of its interest in another mixed-use shopping and leisure scheme in the West Midlands.
NewRiver – structured as a REIT (real estate investment trust) – has lodged plans with Birmingham City Council for a facelift project to Central Square in Erdington.
The company has submitted a scheme which would change the look of the 1960s development by removing existing freestanding canopies and renovating some of the concrete canopies so typical of the era.
In addition to a landscaping scheme (below), New River has also applied to change the use of certain units within the precinct, in particular switching the use of some retail units to restaurant/cafe purposes and hot food takeaway.
There is also a submission for D2 use, which is classed as assembly/leisure, which could pave the way for a new cinema although this is not confirmed, while a further change would see a new ramp built to link the Central Square and Co-op car parks.
Agent for the scheme is Manchester-based practice Corstorphine & Wright, which has been responsible for a host of schemes in and around Birmingham.
NewRiver acquired the 45,000 sq ft centre in 2010 as part of a five-centre portfolio and three years ago indicated it planned to carry out a renovation scheme in the hope of attracting new clients.
The redevelopment was intended to provide a new 25,000 sq ft supermarket with four additional independent units together comprising around 20,000 sq ft retail space.
There was support for the scheme at the time although concerns were it could conflict with the development of a new Sainsbury’s supermarket nearby, which in the event has never been developed.
The scheme from NewRiver comes just weeks after it disposed of its interest in the Regent Court facility in Leamington Spa.
The mixed-use facility was part of a three-site disposal which yielded NewRiver almost £32m.
It now appears that the company is ploughing some of the investment back into its existing portfolio in the hope of attracting new clients.
