Cole Waterhouse is drawing up plans for a residential-led mixed use scheme of up to 1,000 homes in Birmingham’s Digbeth.
The development will include 80,000-100,000 sq ft of ground-floor commercial space and has an expected end value of £260m.
It will comprise up to nine separate blocks, allowing for a range of tenures, with build-to-rent, for-sale and affordable homes and affordable workspace set around public realm space.
The development covers 3.5 acres, bounded by Upper Trinity Street, Adderley Street and Bowyer Street.
Cole Waterhouse secured the site at the end of the summer, acquiring parcels from five different landowners.
The Manchester-headquartered developer has been eyeing the city for the past three years and engaged with the council on its masterplan a year ago.
Cole Waterhouse chief executive Damian Flood said: “This is our first venture into Birmingham. We like Digbeth – it is quite an exciting, vibrant area already, and that is why we’ve focused here.
“The commercial space will reinforce the existing mix of Digbeth. There is lots of culture, makers and creators and amenity for the wider scheme.
“There is a fine line between creating the right environment and white-washing all that character.”
Flood said Cole Waterhouse is already in discussions with potential Birmingham-based media and culture operators that are looking for new facilities and are keen on this part of the city.
The site neighbours HUB’s 1,400-home development to the north, on the site of a National Express bus garage. To the west, Oval Real Estate is planning a mixed-use regeneration of up to 3.8m sq ft to be developed over 10 to 15 years, with initial plans including a new sky garden and residential extensions to the Custard Factory.
Other developers, including Court Collaboration, Prosperity, Seven Capital and Eutopia Homes, have plans for resi-led development but construction is yet to begin.
Birmingham-based architects at Corstorphine + Wright have designed the scheme, with Barton Willmore acting as planning consultant and Henry Riley as project manager. A planning application is to be submitted by March 2020, with construction kicking off through 2021 and 2022.
Flood added: “It will be a scheme delivered over five to seven years on a phased basis. It is our job to create a 24/7 environment, where people want to live, work and play in the long run.
“There are major events and infrastructure projects that are going to complete through the timeline of the project.”
Among these, Flood highlighted the Commonwealth Games in 2022, a new metro stop on Adderley Street in 2023-24 and the anticipated arrival of the HS2 railway line in 2026-27.
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