New bar and restaurant plan for prime city centre site
TWO new restaurant and bars are set for one of Birmingham’s most high profile sites under new plans being proposed.
The application will see part of the ground floor of The Crossway – formerly known as Civic House – on the corner of Summer Row and Great Charles Street Queensway, converted into two food and beverage units suitable for restaurant or café operators.
Constituting 2,847 sq ft and 3,609 sq ft respectively, the space will also include an exterior terrace on Summer Row.
The submission has been made by AG Dunedin Birmingham Estate Venture, a joint venture between Angelo Gordon and Dunedin Property Asset Management, which acquired the portfolio of seven buildings on the Great Charles Street estate from Aviva for £20m in early 2015.
Work is already underway on the comprehensive redevelopment of The Crossway, including recladding of the exterior of the building, full refurbishment of all internal space to Category A, creation of an enhanced reception and the upgrade of all mains services with new glazing installed to increase levels of natural light.
Dunedin is aiming to have the building ready for occupation by October 2016.
Gordon Kellie, Dunedin Property Asset Management, said: “These spaces will be a fantastic addition to the already outstanding range of restaurants and bars on Summer Row and will provide users from across the estate with somewhere to spend time away from the office with clients or to relax out of hours.”
Dunedin has already completed the refurbishment of Charles House and Lombard House, which it said had generated considerable interest from potential occupiers.
“We have continued to see substantial interest in the Birmingham office market over the last 12 months and we feel that the redevelopment of these buildings at Great Charles Street is at the perfect time to meet demand,” added Mr Kellie.
“We want to make best use of the unique and interesting spaces within these buildings and are creating high quality, desirable office accommodation specifically targeted towards smaller occupiers who have perhaps outgrown serviced offices, or want to upgrade to higher quality offices.”
The new facilities are expected to benefit considerably once the redevelopment of Paradise Circus is completed.
However, existing bars and restaurants in the Summer Row area, such as Apres and Mechu have struggled due to the impact of the roadworks connected with the Paradise redevelopment.
Joint letting agents for Great Charles Street Estate are Bilfinger GVA and LSH.
