Invest in Birmingham: an update
In March last year, NovaLoca looked into the benefits of relocating a business to Birmingham. We discussed how there was more investment and development in the city than anywhere else in the UK, outside of London. We also saw the strength of foreign investments such as the Southern Gateway scheme, the Snow Hill master plan, Arena Central and more creating over 4,800 jobs in the region.
Earlier this year, NovaLoca looked into reasons to invest in Birmingham following on from the Urban Land Institute and PwC’s annual Emerging Trends in European Real Estate report showing Birmingham as 6th in the ‘top 10 real estate markets with the best prospects’. We looked into emerging developments in Birmingham set to complete during 2016.
We looked into the construction of the new HSBC UK office which would host 2,500 employees along with the redevelopment of Paradise Circus; designed to create a vibrant mixed use development and transform the whole area of the city. We also saw the old Natwest Tower be demolished with plans to transform it into a £60m 26 storey tower.
Birmingham City Council have a 20 year vision called “The Big City Plan” which includes plans to create over 50,000 new jobs, create 1.5 million square metres of new floor space, create a well connected and efficient City Centre and to deliver five areas of transformation to support the growth of the City Centre.
The transformation has continued with the redevelopment of New Street station. New Street is the busiest station outside London and the busiest interchange station in the UK with a train leaving the station every 37 seconds. The first section of Birmingham New Street station opened in April 2013 and marked the halfway milestone of the 5 year redevelopment project. The full development opened in September 2015.
Alongside the redevelopment of the station, a new retail centre called Grand Central has been built anchored by a 250,000 sq ft John Lewis department store. New Street station has been transformed into a major transport and shopping hub, stimulating economic growth and regeneration in Britain’s second city.
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