Apartments scheme to be scaled down in size
ANEW apartment block in Birmingham city centre has been scaled down in height after it emerged council officers were “unlikely” to support the plans.
The proposed development in the Southside district will have a section reaching up to 14 storeys but it could have been five floors higher, according to newly submitted planning documents.
Last week, the Post reported that developers had lodged new plans with the city council to regenerate a car park near the Hippodrome theatre to build 379 new apartments in a project called Timber Yard.
Newly available planning documents now reveal the development team of Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital had originally planned to build up to 19 storeys on the site on land between Hurst Street and Pershore Street.
A report accompanying the application said the original vision for the development was one containing 393 apartments, predominantly oneand two-bedroom units, with an element reaching up to 19 storeys at the corner of Pershore Street and Skinner Lane.
But the report said council officers were “unlikely to be supportive of a 19-storey tower” following a preliminary meeting with developers, forcing them back the drawing board and bringing about the drop in height.
If given the green light as is now proposed, the complex will be built in a series of blocks of one, seven, eight and ten storeys respectively with a 14-storey section, again at the corner of Pershore Street and Skinner Lane.
The mix of unit sizes is also now available with developers planning to build 13 studios and 207 one-bedroom, 151 two-bedroom and eight three-bed apartments.
There will also be a mix of com- mercial units, a landscaped courtyard, concierge service, 95 parking spaces, including ten for disabled drivers, and 370 sheltered and secure cycle spaces.
Birmingham City Council has previously said it does not comment on ongoing planning applications.