Galliard Homes in collaboration with its joint venture partner, Apsley House Capital, has finalised a deal to acquire a prime three-acre redevelopment site in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter. This is the third significant acquisition by the duo.
The combined GDV of all recent investments has the potential to total £500 million, once plans are determined for this latest site.
The Northwood Street site is currently occupied by manufacturing and engineering company AE Harris and will be redeveloped to offer a mix of residential homes and commercial units. In keeping with both Galliard Homes and Apsley Capital’s development approach the end product will be focused on retaining the area’s heritage and character.
The joint venture partners will stage consultations with planners, local residents and businesses in the Jewellery Quarter before drawing up final proposals. They are also putting together a highly experienced team of designers, architects, planners and consultants to work on the scheme.
Sitting on a historically significant site, the partners will work with conservation groups to maintain the area’s integrity. It will become a hub for the area and will very much reflect the desires of the existing local residents. It will be a mixed-use scheme, with residential, F&B, commercial and hospitality.
The centre of the site, previously private, will be opened to the public and made a through, pedestrianised road. The end look and feel will very much emanate the existing aesthetic of the Jewellery Quarter and will become home to emerging restaurant brands, a hotel and a host of smaller, creative outlets. Traditional brands, and Birmingham stalwarts such as Deakin & Francis, one of England’s oldest craftsmen of fine cufflinks, will be integrated into the scheme.
Stephen Conway, Chief Executive Galliard Homes, said: “Galliard Homes is known for acquiring and developing some of the UK’s most historically significant and landmark mixed-use schemes. We are very pleased to have worked with our partners, Apsley House Capital, in the acquisition of this new site and we look forward to realising its potential, and upholding its historic integrity.”
Robin Norstrom, director of Apsley House Capital, said: “We believe it is the best site in the best location in Birmingham city centre, and we are fully aware of our responsibility in maintaining the historic buildings and making sure new buildings and tenants add value to the area. This is a wonderful opportunity to create something really special which is full of character and complements the surrounding area.”
This is the second, significant Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital partnership. The two companies recently announced that they had bought the Soho Loop site near City Hospital from City and Provincial Properties and plan to transform it into an exciting new canal-side community with approximately 800 homes.
Additionally, earlier this year Apsley House Capital also announced it had acquired a sought-after site in Birmingham’s Southside district where, along with Galliard Homes, it will deliver a development of 385 apartments. The development, currently under planning, was recently named after its historic use – The Timber Yard.
Galliard Homes has become known as one of the leading regenerators of brownfield sites in London and the UK, having been one of the first companies to work in the resurgent London docklands, the rejuvenation of London’s South Bank and the regeneration of Butler’s Wharf and Bermondsey. It currently has 47 schemes with 7,480 homes under construction across the UK, including The Stage – a scheme incorporating Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre in London’s Shoreditch.
