Huge housing vision for city site
NEW plans have been unveiled to build more than 1,000 homes and a hotel in Birmingham city centre in a complex reaching up to 35 storeys.
Developer and investor Cole Waterhouse is behind the £260 million project in Digbeth after the company’s recent acquisition of 3.5 acres of land from five separate landowners, as reported in the Post two weeks ago.
It is still working up its final designs for the application site off Upper Trinity Street and Adderley Street but a newly-published environmental impact report into the project has unveiled more details about the scheme.
Cole Waterhouse is hoping to win the city council’s backing to build up to 1,100 apartments, a hotel of up to 41,980 sq ft with around 120 rooms and commercial units for uses such as retail, offices, cafés and restaurants.
There would also be new public realm, access to the neighbouring Grand Union Canal and parking for bikes and up to 120 cars.
Existing buildings on the site, which is also bordered by Bowyer Street, would be demolished except for the Pump House and Lock Keeper’s Cottage which would be converted for commercial and community use.
The application site will be connected to the new HS2 terminal via the nearby extension of the West Midlands Metro tram network into Digbeth.
A planning application to be lodged next spring.
Following last month’s land deal, Cole Waterhouse’s chief executive Damian Flood said: “We are working closely with the council and Digbeth’s existing community to create a scheme that enhances its surroundings in the spirit of Digbeth and builds on the success of existing redevelopments in the area, notably the Custard Factory.
“We have spent the last year and a half understanding Digbeth, its community and culture,
is due and we are incredibly excited about what we can deliver here.
“We are passionate about identity placemaking and will be bringing some of the key lessons we have learnt from schemes around the world to Digbeth.”
The proposals by Cole Waterhouse, which has offices in Manchester and London, come just weeks after Oval Real Estate announced its plans for land and buildings in Digbeth, including the Custard Factory, which could include a new ‘garden in the sky’ on top of a disused viaduct.