HM Revenue & Customs is looking at five developments in Birmingham for the first phase of its new West Midlands regional hub.
HMRC has sent requests to the developers behind Arena Central, Three Snowhill, Paradise, 103 Colmore Row and The Post & Mail schemes in the city centre to pitch for the first phase of its requirement.
JLL is handling the HMRC requirement for the Government Property Unit, which is likely to initially be for between 300,000 sq ft to 400,000 sq ft, but which could ultimately be for a cluster of up to 1m sq ft, say market observers.
From July: 7.4m sq ft of government requirements revealed
The tax authority is on the hunt for 13 regional centres over the next five years. Each hub will comprise existing buildings, new builds and acquisitions. HMRC’s existing 170 offices will close as the new regional centres open.
Other hub locations include the North East (Newcastle); North West (Manchester and Liverpool); Yorkshire and the Humber (Leeds); East Midlands (Nottingham); Wales (Cardiff); Northern Ireland (Belfast); Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh); South West (Bristol); and London, South East and East of England (Stratford and Croydon).
In Croydon, Stanhope and Schroders are in advanced talks to sign HMRC for a major hub at Ruskin Square. HMRC is close to agreeing to take all of the 180,000 sq ft first phase of offices currently under construction, and is considering an option to take a second consented 250,000 sq ft development at Ruskin Square.
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