Residential tower will be tallest in Birmingham
A GIANT 46-storey residential tower is set to be built in Birmingham city centre near the gateway of the proposed HS2 terminal.
Developer Nikal is revising its original vision for the second phase of its Exchange Square project in Priory Queensway.
Council chiefs awarded initial planning permission last year for a public square and two blocks of nine and 16 storeys.
Now Nikal has amended the plans to create a huge 46-storey complex with around 565 apartments.
The tower would include a residents’ sky lounge and garden on the 46th floor.
Although specific details of the plan are not yet available, the project is likely to be the tallest residential tower in Birmingham – four storeys higher than Moda Living’s proposed ‘2one2 Broad Street’ project.
Nikal said the building work would start in spring 2018 and take three years, subject to approval.
Work is well under way on phase one of Exchange Square which comprises 603 apartments across three buildings of nine, 16 and 27 storeys respectively.
Exchange Square is part of the wider £350 million Masshouse regeneration project by Nikal on the site of the old traffic island of the same name.
Earlier phases included the Hive and Masshouse apartment blocks but work on another element, called Lighthouse, has stalled after initially starting in early 2015.
Meanwhile, plans for new Birmingham city centre student flats with more than a 1,000 bedrooms have also been revealed.
The project would see three blocks of accommodation reaching nine, 13 and 24 storeys high.
The site is currently a 120-space car off New Town Row, next to the Lancaster Circus Queensway island.
Artist’s impressions were released this week by joint applicants Lench’s Trust and ES Lancaster Birmingham which show how the project could look.
Birmingham’s historic Gun Quarter district has seen a surge in student accommodation developments in recent years.