St Modwen is to bring forward the £1bn redevelopment of a vacant 75-acre former MG Rover car plant in Longbridge, following backing from the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The WMCA has provided the developer with £6m for land remediation and early infrastructure to allow 900,000 sq ft of commercial space, 350 new homes and 27 acres of public realm at West Works.
The Rover plant was once one of the world’s largest car factories, employing tens of thousands of people. Decline set in during the 1980s and led to the eventual collapse of MG Rover. costing the region some 6,000 jobs.
St Modwen acquired the wider site in 2003, but has been unable to unlock West Works.
The £1bn regeneration will deliver more than 4,000 homes and 2m sq ft of commercial space, creating 10,000 jobs for the region.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Having spent some time growing up in Northfield, I know just how iconic the site is, and I know that for 15 years now people have waited for its regeneration to finally heal one of our biggest, and most painful, economic scars.
“Over the past four years one of the real strengths of the West Midlands has been using government money to clean up derelict industrial land to pave the way for development, and industrial land doesn’t come much bigger or more iconic than the Longbridge West Works.”
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