Hammerson has cut its retail provision for Martineau Galleries to only around 10% of its initial offering as it reveals new plans for public consultation.
The retail REIT now expects less than 100,000 sq ft of the 2.8m sq ft development to be dedicated to retail.
Robin Dobson, director of development at Hammerson, said: “We are in a different time for Birmingham’s growth as a region, and for the growth of mixed-use schemes.
“The shift is much more around commercial offices, residential, food and beverage and hotels, with very limited retail. The plans for the regeneration have moved on, just as the mix of uses within the city has moved on.”
It is a dramatic shift from the 2006 strategy that proposed 915,000 sq ft of retail.
Guy Wells, associate director of development at Hammerson, said he expected two-thirds of the 300,000 sq ft of ground floor commercial space to be dedicated to restaurants and cafés, built around the new plaza and boulevard, with further space allocated to leisure.
He said: “You have an extension of the high street, with the pedestrianisation of Dale End, the east-west connections and the plaza.”
Newly revealed plans for the 7.5-acre regeneration propose 2.8m sq ft of development with seven buildings, alongside ground-floor retail, restaurants and leisure space.
The scheme comprises four commercial buildings to the south, including a 400-bedroom hotel, and three residential towers of up to 35 storeys on the northern part of the site (down from 50 storeys in the EIA submitted in April).
The decades-stalled development will be the first major scheme from Hammerson’s City Quarters brand.
“Martineau Galleries is one of the most important regeneration sites in Europe in terms of its growth potential and its city centre location,” Dobson said.
“It is a key connector for the potential arrival of HS2, the existing and ever-growing commercial district around Colmore Row and the existing high-street connection between east and west.”
Dobson said that there had been significant interest from investors, housebuilders, BTR operators and commercial occupiers.
Wells added: “There is a lot of pent-up demand to invest. There is demand for the hotels, the food and beverage, and the retail. We have had very early dialogue with occupiers and others about participating in the scheme.”
Hammerson will launch a public consultation on the proposals this week, with the outline planning application expected shortly afterwards.
Development is expected to last up to 15 years.
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