EG takes a look behind the scenes at Birmingham’s Arena Central in light of HBSC’s recent occupation, advancements at the Municipal Bank and Kier Property’s proposed acquisition.
Arena Central is one of the largest sites in Birmingham, spanning 9.2 acres and more than 1.2m sq ft of development space. Kier Property is in the process of buying the site, which was acquired by Miller Developments in 2001.
Following years of financial insecurity, in 2015 HSBC decided to relocate its headquarters to the new address at One Centenary Square, kick-starting construction and further take-up on the site, with future phases being prepared for a sale to Kier Property.
A slow start
Miller sold Alpha Tower, the resi site, to Dandara for PRS development and a 250-bed hotel to Holiday Inn in 2007. But in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Miller Group racked up debts of £600m. In 2012 it agreed a debt restructure and secured facilities at the beginning of 2012.
HSBC acquired 210,000 sq ft at One Centenary Square (formerly 2 Arena Central) in 2015. The University of Birmingham picked up the Municipal Bank in 2016, and the following year saw L&G forward-fund 240,000 sq ft of development at 3 Arena Central, which HMRC will move into.
Make Architects designed the schemes and Galliford Try has been contracted for the construction.
HSBC relocates its HQ
In recent weeks 2,500 HSBC employees moved into the headquarters at One Centenary. HSBC was able to bag the iconic new address and the postcode B1 1HQ.
“It’s changed very much from a building site environment to a fully occupied building,” says Miller Developments MD Andrew Sutherland.
“We’ve done all the the fit-out for them, as well as the base build itself. It was a really quick development process from when we were selected at the beginning in 2015, to completion three-and-a-half years later.”
Sutherland said HSBC sparked further take-up. “That was a major coup; they acted as a catalyst and really established the pitch here.”
Transforming the Municipal Bank
On 8 November Birmingham City Council approved the University of Birmingham’s plans to transform the old Municipal Bank into its city centre hub. Sutherland says that Miller is on track for practical completion in 2020.
“We’ve been facilitating and helping them carry out all of their design processes to this stage and their acquisition of the building from Birmingham City Council,” he says. “It is a listed building, so that brings its own complications, but it will be a fantastic additional to the overall setting within Arena Central.
“It’s a very different building to the big corporate offices. It’s a completely different scale, but it will add a different dimension.”
Future development
Following completion of the acquisition, Kier Property will own the remaining three phases at 1, 4 and 5 Arena Central, and the public realm at Bank Court. The site has outline planning permission for 550,000 sq ft of mixed-use space at various early stages. Construction of 150,000 sq ft at 5 Centenary Square (formerly 1 Arena Central) is expected to start in the first quarter, with completion expected in 2020.
“From when we started we went through a very difficult period – you go through gestation for a major development, it takes a long time. And then we had a minor blip with the financial crisis along the way, so that didn’t help.
“We kicked off in the summer of 2015, so what you can see on site has happened over the last three years, which is amazingly quick. We’ve been trading elements of the site along the way and this is really now the construction phase.”
Sutherland has high hopes for additional government take-up on the site, after the announcement that it will seek to take 1m sq ft in Birmingham. And he anticipates that the site could achieve completion by 2023.
“It’s all going to be down to the occupational demand; hopefully Brexit, and general elections and other things don’t come along and mess that up.”
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