Top London restaurant announced for Birmingham
ONE of London’s best known restaurants is set to make the move into Birmingham.
IM Properties, which is carrying out the £30m refurbishment to 55 Colmore Row, said it was delighted to have secured Gaucho for one of the two new restaurants being installed in the former headquarters of law firm Wragges.
Bringing a further taste of Argentina to the city, Gaucho currently has 12 restaurants in London plus ones in Leeds and Manchester. It has now selected Birmingham as the next city in its UK regional centre expansion.
It will also see the restaurant go head-to-head with Gusto and The Alchemist, which have both taken space in the refurbished Grand Hotel.
Gaucho said it had opted for the second city because of its growth potential and rising profile as a food haven.
Zeev Godik, from Gaucho, said: “We’ve been looking at Birmingham for some time but finding the right location was crucial. It had to look and feel right for the brand.
“All our restaurants are individual and we needed a space that enabled us to tell the story of Gaucho to the full and create a memorable experience for customers in the city.”
The remodelling of 55 Colmore Row, which is set to become the new home of law firm Pinsent Masons, has created around 15,000 sq ft of restaurant space on the ground floor of the building.
When complete, the building will provide the largest amount of Grade A office accommodation in the city. Pinsent Masons has already signed up to 40,000 of the available 160,000 sq ft.
Gaucho (left) will sit on the corner of Church Street and Colmore Row, with a dedicated entrance on Church Street opposite the proposed new entrance of the Grand Hotel.
John Hammond, investment director at IM Properties said: “For us 55 Colmore Row is a real place changer and everything about the building has to be aspirational. Our ambition was to attract a top tier restaurant and when Gaucho approached us, we knew they ticked all our boxes for style, quality and vibrancy, paying the same attention to designing their restaurants as we have to creating one of the most prestigious business addresses in the area.
“Recent lettings at the Grand Hotel to Gusto and Alchemist are part of a push forward to make the CBD a high quality business and leisure location. We believe Gaucho significantly adds to the offering and will provide a real talking point in the city, becoming a place to go and be seen.”
Specialist retail and leisure agents, BWD has been appointed by IM Properties to find a suitable operator for the other restaurant space. It is currently in discussions with a number of interested parties for the second unit.
