Hammerson/Hines rubberstamp Brum wholesale markets jv

  Hammerson and Hines have entered into a formal partnership agreement for the redevelopment of Birmingham’s wholesale markets site.   The REIT and the US developer have been in talks since earlier this year to jointly bring forward the mixed-use redevelopment of the 21-acre site.   A source close to the partnership said: “A formal partnership agreement has been signed between Hines and Hammerson. It’s not a joint venture and as yet the council is not on board.”   EG revealed (13 June, News) that the partners were in talks to redevelop the site as a key part of Birmingham’s 2,000-acre Big City Plan.   The site sits just 500m from the 1.2m sq ft Bullring shopping centre, which was developed by Hammerson and its Birmingham Alliance partners Land Securities and Henderson Global Investors in 2003.   Hammerson wants to increase its investment in Birmingham and is keen to control what is developed around the Bullring.   The market site would be a phased 10-15 year project and would be a natural extension to the Bullring shopping centre.   Hines’ involvement in the wholesale markets site has still not yet formally been announced by landowner Birmingham city council.   However, the developer is known to have been the frontrunner as preferred development partner since February last year.   Hammerson declined to comment and Hines was unavailable for comment.   lisa.pilkington@egi.co.uk