PLANS FOR NEW £68m OFFICE BLOCK IN CITY
THE construction of a new £68 million office block in Friargate is to begin in October pending the approval of new funding, it has been announced.
The new 12-storey building - named Two Friargate - will contain 134,000 sq ft of “state of the art office space” as well as a ground-floor cafe or restaurant.
Grant funding of £51.2 million has already been secured from the West Midlands Combined Authority with Coventry City Council set to borrow £17m towards the project and purchase the site on a 250-year lease.
Further capital funding will also be made available by the council, although the amount has not been disclosed. Both will be sanctioned by cabinet on Tuesday, August 25, before final approval at full council in September.
Work on Two Friargate will begin in October and is anticipated to finish in summer 2022.
Coventry council said the scheme will create 700 jobs during the construction phase and deliver office space that “will be able to compete with the best the wider region has to offer”.
Cllr Jim O’boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, said: “At a time when the economy is struggling, we need to do all we can to support new investment and job creation.
“This building at Friargate will be situated right next to one of the busiest and fastest growing stations in the UK, making it a really attractive proposition for businesses.
“I believe that if we build this second building, we will see more business investing in our city and discovering what a fantastic place it is to do business in.
“In addition to all of this, this building is going to be a real opportunity to create jobs for Coventry people.
“This is always an incredibly important aspect of any development to us but even more so with the impacts of Covid-19 on the job market.”
Friargate schemefriargate is a multi-million regeneration scheme around Coventry Railway Station that was first given outline planning permission in 2011, although development has been slow.
Only one building new council offices One Friargate - is finished on site.
Earlier in January this year it was admitted to councillors that there had been a reluctance from investors to pump money into an untested market following the financial crash.
Coventry council put its own funds into office block One Friargate which was completed in 2017 - to “kick-start” investment, but that was not forthcoming.
In February 2019, the council entered into a joint venture with Cannon Kirk - the founders of Friargate LLP - to take control of the project. Plans were approved late last year for the four-star 100-bed Hotel Indigo, which is due to open in spring 2021. The new Two Friargate office block is anticipated to bring in business rates of at least £1.4m per year once it is fully let, the council has said.