Vacant office block could make way for flats
A CITY centre office block is to be demolished to make for a new 14-storey apartment complex.
Developers have revealed plans to raze Lionel House, a vacant tenstorey complex at 86 Lionel Street, and replace it with 259 apartments to rent.
There would also be a landscaped roof terrace, ground-floor communal areas for residents, a 17-space car park and cycle storage for every apartment.
Lionel House, which still has a public car park, was built in the 1970s and previously housed a Post Office.
The scheme is the latest in Birmingham city centre to adopt the private rented sector (PRS) model where a single landlord owns the whole building and the apartments will be available to rent only.
Other notable PRS projects include the 42-storey 2one2 Broad Street, which will have a 200-metre running track, ‘New Monaco’ in Bristol Street containing more 1,000 units and The Forum at the site of the old Silver Blades ice rink, in Pershore Street.
An earlier plan for the Lionel House site in 2016 by its previous owner involved demolishing the building and the neighbouring Beaufort House followed by a wholesale redevelopment from Newhall Street and along Lionel Street.
Supporting documents accompanying the latest planning application said: “The site is currently occupied by a vacant building which is poor quality and does not make a positive contribution to the street or the conservation area.
“This new proposed building will make a significant and positive contribution to Lionel Street and the wider conservation area.”