GVA has been appointed to sell the 135-year-old existing home of the Birmingham Assay Office.
The appointment follows its decision in 2011 to relocate to a new 45,000 sq ft bespoke building within the Jewellery Quarter.
The instruction will require GVA to dispose of the freehold interest in the existing Newhall Street site, which comprises a Grade II-listed building and associated car park situated in a prime area of Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter.
Now one of only four Assay offices in the UK, the Birmingham Assay Office was established in the city in 1773 by an Act of Parliament, following substantial growth in the silver industry within the city during the 18th century.
GVA director Charles Toogood said: “The disposal of this building is without question one of the most interesting projects that we have been instructed on in the city centre in recent years.”
GVA is carrying out the necessary due diligence and plans to market the building in the coming months. Details of the sale, including the price, are not yet known.
The Assay Office will relocate to the St Georges Partnership’s scheme on Icknield Street in 2015.
It will move into a new purpose-built headquarters designed by Glazzard Architects. Trebor Developments handled the search for the Assay office.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette
