Trouble in Paradise as cost rockets by £500m
And price of flagship city regeneration could rise even more
THE estimated cost of one of Birmingham’s largest regeneration schemes currently under development has shot up by half a billion pounds – with expectations that it could rise even further.
The Paradise project in Chamberlain Square started life as a £500 million scheme before its cost was revised up to £700 million a few years later.
Now, as work nears completion on the third office block there, it is being heralded as £1.2 billion scheme by the team behind the project.
A statement from the Paradise team said: “Due to the increase in design and construction costs, we now say Paradise is a £1.2 billion investment.
“The figure has always been subject to change and has risen from £500 million ten years ago in line with inflation and end values.
“It will probably increase again by the time phase three is built (the area fronting Summer Row) and underlines the amount of investment required at today’s prices.
“The two buildings currently under construction, One Centenary Way and Octagon, will add £160 million and £110 million respectively.
“Add in the £120 million spent on infrastructure changes to the roads, basement and contribution to the tram extension, and the value soon rises.”
Work already completed on Paradise includes a redrawn traffic route around the edge of the site and two office buildings – One and Two Chamberlain Square – whose tenants include financial services firm PwC and law firms DLA Piper and Knights.
Dining-out venues Albert’s Schloss, Dishoom and Rosa’s Thai Cafe have also opened on the ground floors of the two buildings with more leisure venues still to come.
The third office block, called One Centenary Way, recently ‘topped out’.
Demolition work is continuing on the former 77 Paradise Circus Queensway office block at the Summer Row end of the site, with the Copthorne Hotel due to be torn down later this summer. In the meantime, piling work for the new Octagon tower will help to put the foundations in place for the expected 2025 arrival of “the world’s tallest pure octagonal residential skyscraper”.
The Octagon site is being developed by City Developments Ltd (CDL) and will create a tower that will be 155 metres (509 feet) tall. Building it will require the erection of a 179-metre tower crane, the tallest ever used in the city.
Architect Dav Bansal, from the Glenn Howells Architects, told the Post in 2020: “We want to create the finest city centre homes Birmingham, if not Britain, has ever seen, in a location that is simply unrivalled and in a building that is distinguishable for all the right reasons.”
The Paradise vision is currently being marketed as ‘Where history meets tomorrow’ with future developments set to include a 17-storey, 152-bed hotel and Three Chamberlain Square that will both sit alongside Paradise Street next to Birmingham Town Hall.
Their development will create a new ‘Ratcliff Square’ in between themselves and One Centenary Way and Two Chamberlain Square.
On the other side of Centenary Way next to Baskerville House, will be Two Centenary Way and One Congreve Square. Octagon will complete the Summer Row end of the site, with Three Congreve Square running alongside Great Charles Queensway at the same time as creating a new public space to be called Congreve Square between itself, One Chamberlain Square, Two Centenary Way and One Congreve Square.
The Paradise website promises: “Paradise is the most important development Birmingham has seen in a generation. In the past it was a place where arts, learning and commerce flourished side by side, and its latest transformation sees it inspiring a new generation of visitors, residents, thinkers and doers.
“Bringing a new urban neighbourhood to life in the heart of Birmingham by creating a thriving hub of favourite events, spaces, squares, restaurants and cafes; a place to work and where you can be, and be seen; a place to visit, spend a day with the family and enjoy.”