Birmingham City University has agreed to take space at Eastside Locks in Birmingham, and will be landlord Goodman’s first tenant at the spec scheme.
BCU has signed up to take the whole of the 55,000 sq ft building at 6 Cardigan Street. The 55,000 sq ft, four- storey office scheme will open in 2016, as part of the university’s continued expansion of its city centre campus. Administration staff will move across from its Perry Bar campus.
Work started on site for the speculative office block in November 2014, and Goodman anticipated early interest given Birmingham’s growing attractiveness for investment and the site’s location next to the planned HS2 terminus known as Curzon Street station.
James Raven, development director, UK business parks, at Goodman, said: “Our belief in the city’s growth underpinned the decision to begin work on the Cardigan Street scheme as a speculative development last year.
“For Goodman, securing this lease with Birmingham City University during the early stages of construction will enable us to commit to the next phase of speculative office development and implement plans for the first amenity hub at Eastside Locks. We look forward to announcing more details in the near future.”
Eastside Locks will comprise a total of 800,000 sq ft of office space, as well as shops, bars and restaurants, residential space and a hotel. The site also sits alongside the Digbeth branch of the Birmingham and Fazeley canal.
BCU opened the first phase of its city centre campus in Eastside in 2013, building on its existing presence in Millennium Point. It is currently developing a new conservatoire on the campus, scheduled to complete in 2017. The head office of the university is also now located at the campus, at University House, close to Hotel La Tour.
