To the weekend throngs who frequent Birmingham’s Golden Mile, the fact that some of the lustre has been lost from the city’s famous Broad Street is there for all to see. Units are vacant, the leisure mix is skewed towards the stag and hen crowd and even Roy (I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day) Wood’s Walk of Stars paving stone has cracked.
Nothing if not resilient, Broad Street is showing some small signs of a comeback, with a number of key developments suggesting that a more diverse leisure offer may rebalance the strip. The street is also under its second five-year BID term, which runs until March 2015.
“The intention is to make Broad Street more upmarket,” says Jonathan Wren, director at Colliers International. “At the moment, there are empty units and no real signs of the big bar and leisure operators wanting to take space.
“Moving the offer on is dependent on proposed developments such as Arena Central at one end and Seven Capital at the other. These projects will drive a different footfall.”
Tracey Mills, agency director at Davis Coffers Lyons, concedes: “Once an area has a reputation for being dominated by bars it can be hard to lose that reputation. A lot of food and beverage offers have opened nearby and, if new operators are to be attracted, there would need to be strict conditions, such as 50/50 bar to restaurant ratios.”
At the Centenary Square end of Broad Street, Miller Development’s and Bridgehouse Capital’s 2.3m sq ft, mixed-use Arena Central development has been stalled since the downturn (although in December it was at least included as one of the city’s 26 enterprise zones).
However, at the opposite end of the prime leisure pitch, Seven Capital’s £50m-£60m redevelopment of an office tower and shopping centre is moving forward.
Phase one will transform the 102,257 sq ft former Auchinleck office tower into a four-star, 300-bedroom hotel, while wider redevelopment of the 475,000 sq ft site – which includes the neighbouring 85,000 sq ft Fiveways shopping centre – is also being considered.
Called Park Regis, the hotel will be operated by Seven Capital-owned Australian hotel manager StayWell Group, making its European debut.
Seven Capital is hoping to take advantage of tax benefits via the government’s Business Premises Regeneration Allowance initiative, but to do this permission must be finalised by 4 April. Development director Andy Robinson admits: “The BPRA is key, for without that the financial viability of the project would be questionable.”
According to Robinson, the site attracted Seven Capital “because of the lack of large sites in gateway locations” and will include not just the hotel but a bridge-linked conference and events space capable of hosting as many as 2,000 guests.
“The hotel and events suites will have a symbiotic relationship,” adds Robinson. “We hope to start on site in the autumn and open for the end of summer 2014. As investor, developer and operator, we are planning for the long term.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool-based hotel management and development company Sanguine Hospitality is also flexing its muscles in Birmingham; in December last year, Sanguine Hospitality and chef Marco Pierre White opened a rooftop bar and restaurant at The Cube mixed-use development close to Broad Street.
Prior to this, Sanguine secured the management contract to operate a Hampton by Hilton hotel at the revamped Cumberland House on Broad Street – its first office-to-hotel conversion in the UK – which opens in May.
Simon Robinson, director at GBR Phoenix Beard, believes that both schemes will help stabilise a street still hampered by legacy rents from its glory days. “Some of the rents paid were very high and that really impacted operators, a number of whom were forced to move out,” he says. “So with the new schemes completed on current rental levels that should also help.”
Colliers’ Wren says that rents for bars are as high as £35 per sq ft on Broad Street. While premium rents of circa £30 per sq ft can still be achieved at the prime Centenary Square end of the pitch, they can barely make the early teens at the Fiveways end.
Meanwhile, he adds, office rents, which once reached £18.50 per sq ft, have now dropped to £14.50 per sq ft.
Looking further ahead, Regal Property Group has consent for the 655ft-high, 56-storey mixed-use Regal Tower at the corner of Broad Street and Sheepcote Street. The project will include a 289-bedroom hotel, 256 serviced apartments and three floors of penthouses, plus retail at street level.
However, as yet, there is no indication when this scheme may start on site. Rumours are circling that it is to be significantly scaled back in light of the economic downturn, and that budget hotel operator Premier Inn has been netted for a 200-bedroom operation.
Regal Property Group was unavailable for comment.
Robinson sums up: “There is enough scope in Birmingham for Broad Street to regenerate, although work at New Street station could create another entertainment hub. Broad Street could learn from the management of other areas, such as the Mailbox and Brindleyplace.”
Coventry reaches for the sky
London-based Mansford Holdings is investing £25m into rejuvenating Coventry city centre’s flagship Skydome leisure development, after acquiring the complex last November. The 124,200 sq ft scheme includes the arena, car park and a nine-screen Odeon cinema as well as bars and a restaurant.
The Skydome, which opened in 1999, has been hit by the downturn, and the London-based property group, advised by EJ Hales, is aiming to attract a mix of new tenants to complement the existing leisure offer, which hosts more than 1m visitors each year.
Yorkshire-based Pure Gym is taking 25,000 sq ft of space following the closure of nightclubs Lava and Ignite, while Mansford is funding improvements to the 779-space car park, the boulevard and the link to the city centre.
Joe Heanen, managing director of Arena Group, which manages the Skydone, says: “It’s great to see money being pumped back into the Skydome. Here at the arena, we enjoy very strong visitor levels, particularly for matches, and we want to build on that.”
London-based Mansford Holdings is investing £25m into rejuvenating Coventry city centre’s flagship Skydome leisure development, after acquiring the complex last November. The scheme includes the arena, car park and a multi-screen Odeon cinema as well as bars and a restaurant.
The Skydome, which opened in 1999, has been hit by the downturn in the night-time industry, and the London-based property group, advised by EJ Hales, aims to attract a mix of new tenants to complement the existing leisure offer, which already hosts more than one million visitors each year.
Yorkshire-based Pure Gym has agreed to take over 25,000 sq ft of space resulting from the closure of nightclubs Lava and Ignite, while Mansford is also funding improvements to the 779-space car park, the boulevard and the link to the city centre.
Joe Heanen, managing director of the Arena Group (WHO ARE THEY??), says: “It’s great to see money being pumped back into the Skydome. Here at the arena, we enjoy very strong visitor levels, particularly for matches, and we want to build on that.”
