Go-ahead for major Quarter plan
PLANS for a £125 million development in the city’s Jewellery Quarter featuring housing, shops, bars and workspaces have been approved, despite a fear it could lead to a business exodus.
Birmingham City Council’s planning committee approved the proposal to transform a four-acre site at Northwood Street into what will become known as St Paul’s Quarter.
The scheme includes 305 apartments, more than half of which will be one bedroom, and 98,000 sq ft of commercial space. Firms AE Harris and Baker and Finnemore are intending to relocate from the site.
Cllr Gareth Moore said: “My main concern is it is quite clear we have two businesses who are intending to relocate at least outside of the Jewellery Quarter, if not outside of Birmingham, which is a concern and I suspect it will be the beginning of many businesses doing the same.”
But he voted in favour of the scheme, saying there were clear benefits to the development. The committee had previously deferred a decision on the 20-building plan by joint applicants Apsley House Capital and Galliard Homes.
Concerns had been raised that some of the new five-storey buildings would be bigger than the typical property in the Jewellery Quarter.
Some councillors also had reservations about the level of demolition required to unlisted buildings and the balance between residential and commercial space. But following a site visit the majority of members voted in favour of the plans.
However, not all were in agreement and Cllr Lou Robson said that the scale and mix of buildings “sets a really dangerous precedent” for the Jewellery Quarter.
The development will open up an area which had previously been closed off to the public while two Grade II-listed buildings will be restored and two further unlisted properties will be kept.
The developers estimate it will take four years to complete.
Robin Norstrom, a director at Apsley House Capital, said: “We have invested two years in bringing this scheme forward. It will introduce more than a kilometre of street frontages, with the majority of the public spaces being car free. The scheme’s ground-floor commercial space will provide opportunities for up-andcoming independent businesses.”