15371LOCATEIN:13326LOCATEIN 4/8/08 10:56 Page 1 birminghamdevelopments www.locatebirmingham.com Issue Two 2008 15371 28/07/2008 Proof 6 15371LOCATEIN:13326LOCATEIN 4/8/08 10:56 Page 2 birminghamdevelopments Welcome from Mike Whitby As Leader of Birmingham City Council, may I welcome you to the The Big City Plan marks an important latest edition of Birmingham Developments. stage in the evolution of Birmingham as a modern, vibrant and truly global city. Regeneration continues apace in this city, and I am delighted to Opportunities to conduct such visionary see several exciting new projects come on-line. and important work come round only once The Birmingham Office Market Forum, which launched earlier this in a generation, which is why we are year, is an excellent example of the public and private sectors determined to consult as widely as working together for the good of the city. possible in order to get it right. Cllr Whitby Over the past few years we have established increasingly strong The plan is not just about repositioning our city for those who wish relationships with the city's agents, so I am delighted to see a to visit, relocate, or invest over the next 20 years. Most importantly more formal joined up approach in promoting Birmingham. it is about creating a Birmingham designed for, and by, the people who actually live here. A huge amount of new office space has come onto the market in recent years, with much more planned for the future, and this new initiative will be a great opportunity for us to really sell the city to Kind regards potential investors. Mike Whitby As Birmingham continues to cement its position as a global Leader of Birmingham City Council competitor it cannot afford to lessen its efforts. The Forum has also helped create a map which has redefined the boundaries of the city centre office market; this is a fantastic and proactive initiative that should help put the city ‘one step ahead of the game’. As you know, an exciting 20-year vision for the future of Birmingham City Centre was unveiled in February by Birmingham City Council, as it launched a consultation document on its much anticipated ‘Big City Plan’. With thanks Compiled with the support of Investment Values for Birmingham agents and developers, and Investment value for projects in Birmingham City Centre,* currently under construction and proposed over the next 10 years, is £11.8 billion. national and regional media. Total investment value for projects in all Birmingham wards, currently under construction and proposed over the next 10 years, is £17.5 billion. Front Cover * Area as defined by the Big City Plan, see page 9. Birmingham’s skyline of the future The purpose of the maps within this document is to illustrate the location of developments within the City. The maps are based on Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller courtesy of Birmingham City Council of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Birmingham City Council 100021326 (2006) 15371 28/07/2008 Proof 6 15371LOCATEIN:13326LOCATEIN 4/8/08 10:56 Page 3 birminghamdevelopments 3 Development news, January — June 2008 Birmingham and the West Midlands have topped a recent An exciting 20-year vision for the future of Birmingham City Centre regeneration poll, with the region having more regeneration was unveiled in February by Birmingham City Council as it developments ongoing than any other area outside of London and launched a consultation document on its much anticipated the South East. ‘Big City Plan’. The survey, carried out by Regeneration and Renewal Magazine, Developed by leading UK urban designers, Urban Initiatives, the showed the West Midlands to be ahead of similar UK regions in Big City Plan Charter outlines 20 key issues and areas of terms of regeneration development. The area currently has 14 opportunity which the city needs to address in order to achieve its regeneration schemes in the pipeline, worth an estimated £7.9bn ambitions for future development. of investment, compared with the South East and North West who The largest ever plan of its kind in the UK, the Big City Plan will co- each currently have 13 projects in the offing. ordinate the overall physical, economic and cultural development Birmingham came out as a regional leader, with as much as half of of not just the city centre, but also the wider city and region these developments being Birmingham based. Developments in beyond. the city counted in the survey include the £850m redevelopment of As part of this, more than £11bn worth of investment is already Selly Oak, the Longbridge project, estimated at around £640m, planned for the city centre, including Arena Central, New Street and the greatly anticipated £550m Birmingham Gateway Gateway Project, Snowhill redevelopment and the proposed redevelopment of New Street Station. Library of Birmingham. The cluster of developments across the city is expected to create The anticipated plan is based upon the principles set out by 930,000 sq ft of space and most are due for completion between Professor Michael Parkinson of the European Institute for Urban now and spring 2009. Of this total, an estimated 700,000 sq ft will Affairs, in his ‘visioning study’ delivered to the Council in 2007. be top quality office space, making the city a prime location for businesses. While the plan deals specifically with the 800 hectares of land defined as the city centre, its impact is expected to reach out into the wider city and far beyond. 15371 09/07/2008 Proof 4 15371LOCATEIN:13326LOCATEIN 4/8/08 10:56 Page 4 4 birminghamdevelopments Development news, January — June 2008 continued The Birmingham Office Market Forum (BOMF), which is made Research data for the office sector: up of agents from 16 companies, hopes to assist in developing Office Development Pipeline stronger ties between investors, developers and occupiers while also acting as a lobbying group where issues relevant to the office G Central Birmingham has a total office stock of 18.7m sq ft. market exist. Vacant supply amounts to approximately 2.1m sq ft and falls in One of its key initiatives has been to redefine Birmingham’s G a range of buildings from Grade A to more cost-effective expanding office core. They have now produced a map which accommodation. provides a definitive reference document for those looking to invest in the city as well as for the office agents themselves. G 630,000 sq ft of this vacant supply comprises Grade A Martin Guest, from C B Richard Ellis and chairman of BOMF, said accommodation and is available for immediate occupation. Below: Penthouse at Rotunda the main role of the map was to introduce some consistency in the information that was being given out to potential occupiers and G Birmingham has 7.14m sq ft of future office stock in the investors. development pipeline, of which 3.8m sq ft has planning consent. He said: “While we are all essentially competitors, as an industry we all understand the benefits of presenting a united front and G Five major speculative buildings are currently under collectively doing all we can to encourage people to consider construction. Birmingham as a place to invest.” The member companies forming Birmingham Office Market Forum G Office take-up in the city for Quarter 2, 2008 is 415,034 sq ft. are ATIS, CB Richard Ellis, Colliers CRE, Donaldsons, Drivers Jonas, DTZ, GBR, GSD, GVA Grimley, Jones Lang LaSalle, King Source: Birmingham Office Market Forum, 2008. Sturge, Knight Frank, KWB, Lambert Smith Hampton, Savills, and Vail Williams. Importantly, Birmingham City Council is also a member, represented by Mike Loftus who is manager of Locate in Birmingham. 15371 28/07/2008 Proof 6 15371LOCATEIN:13326LOCATEIN 4/8/08 10:56 Page 5 birminghamdevelopments 5 Development news, January — June 2008 continued Wragge & Co LLP has signed up to new office premises at Two City planners have been given the green light to commence the Snowhill. The firm have secured up to 250,000 sq ft space over St Georges scheme in the Jewellery Quarter. It is set to create a 11 floors on a 20 year lease with flexibility to accommodate up to vibrant new living and working quarter with 700 new homes, 1,800 people. They will relocate in 2011. The £500m gateway site offices, two hotels — the first in the Jewellery Quarter — a new is being developed by Ballymore Properties. multi-storey car park and retail and leisure space. More than 750 jobs will be created on the site. The Chord Deeley development is one of the biggest regeneration Full planning permission has been granted for the go-ahead of the sites in Birmingham. The 2.75 hectare/6.8 acre site will create a new Birmingham Central Coach Station. The £15m station is Right: Newhall Square prominent new gateway at the Icknield Street entrance to the Bottom Right: Two Snowhill being totally funded by National Express UK Ltd. Construction Jewellery Quarter. Below: Birmingham Coach Station work is expected to start in summer 2008, with opening Following page: St Georges anticipated in late 2009. Following two and a half years of anticipation, Birmingham’s most iconic building has been revealed in all of its new glory. The new- Property developer RO St Bernards has appointed Birmingham- look Rotunda by Urban Splash was officially completed in May based demolition contractor Armac to carry out the clearance and has transformed the city’s famous 265 ft tall cylindrical tower works at Newhall Square.