Welsh developer Watkin Jones has snapped up a landmark development site in Birmingham city centre.
The Bangor-based firm, best-known for student accommodation schemes, has bought the listed Central Fire Station HQ and offices in Lancaster Circus.
City agents believe the triangular 1.6-acre site, next to Aston university and close to the Aston Expressway, cost around £4m, but chairman Glyn Watkin-Jones would not confirm the figure.
West Midlands Fire Service sold the site to help fund a move to a new 110,000 sq ft headquarters, being built in nearby Eastside.
The final mix of the scheme has yet to be decided, although at this stage a mixed-use scheme with a residential tower or possibly a hotel is
the preferred option.
A planning application is due to be submitted early in the New Year.
The sale was handled by the Birmingham development team of CB Richard Ellis. Marketing agents have yet to be appointed.
