Plans announced for major Birmingham gateway scheme

Proposals for a £300 million regeneration development on a 10.7 acre site to the west of Birmingham city centre along the Hagley Road (A456), a main arterial road into the city, have been revealed ahead of public consultations taking place from Thursday 27th October to Wednesday 2nd November.

The plan to create a mixed use scheme around a garden square is being taken forward for consultation by Calthorpe Estates, the progressive property and development company, and U+I , that specialise in mixed use regeneration projects within London, the south-east, Manchester and Dublin.

The site, that starts next to the Plough and Harrow on the Hagley Road and stretches down to Five Ways island towards Francis Road and back towards Duchess Road, will become New Garden Square, should planning approval be granted.

Glenn Howells Architects has looked at replacing the existing, mainly vacant, 1950’s to 1980’s office blocks with an attractive mixed use destination set around a high quality public realm with interlinked gardens.

The proposed mix includes new commercial and leisure space, new apartments, car parking and a stunning public garden square.

The Grade II listed buildings facing onto the Hagley Road will be retained and restored following advice from Historic England.

Calthorpe Estates’ knowledge of the area and reputation for delivering quality schemes is matched by U+I’s track record of creating vibrant destinations across the UK. In recent years U+I has been behind many landmark developments, such as the development of 1.7 million square feet of mixed use space at Paddington Central in London. In addition U+I has been appointed to develop the £850 million Mayfield Quarter urban regeneration project in Manchester.

New Garden Square will be an extension of what was set out in The Big City Plan and is located close to planned transport improvements with the Sprint due to start in 2018 and the Metro extension scheduled to stop nearby on the Hagley Road by 2021.

The proposals are being revealed as part of the consultation process that will run from late October to early November with public consultation events taking place on Thursday 27th October between 12 noon -8.00pm and Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd November between 5.00 pm – 8.00pm at St George’s C of E Primary School, Beauford Road, Birmingham.

A planning application is anticipated to be submitted on December 2016 following feedback from the consultation sessions. The CBRE team in Birmingham is advising on the planning process.