West Midlands –Up and Coming
The West Midland region is currently experiencing a period of investment. Not only is West Midlands Railway investing millions in new and electric trains, new timetable and increase in services, several major cities are seeing development:
Coventry will be the City of Culture in 2021 and in preparation for this the city centre will have a £44million redevelopment.
Work by Stoford Developments Commercial Property Developer and Bridges Fund Management has begun in Wolverhampton at Pantheon Park to build four high-quality industrial/warehouse units on the 12 acre site which is in a prime location just 2 miles from the city centre.
Birmingham is enjoying several regeneration and development schemes with ten of them shortlisted and 1 Centenary Square, the new home of HSBC UK, winning the Commercial Project of the Year at the annual RICS West Midlands Awards. The awards are run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors celebrating “the most inspirational initiatives in the land, property and construction sectors that have a significant positive impact on the communities they serve. “
The Martineau Galleries project by Hammerson Property Development and Investment Company is being brought forward, with public consultations taking place this month. It would be one of the city’s largest ever regeneration schemes covering a 7.5 acre site. The plan is for a mixed use office-led scheme alongside potential for apartments, shops and a hotel. The scheme will be developed with connection to the HS2 terminal in mind but is not dependent on it.
Plans have also been approved to transform the historic 120 year old Belmont Works Factory into a £60m innovation centre for businesses, artists and academics as part of the second phase of Birmingham City University’s Steamhouse project. The project “drives innovation and research to create business solutions that fuel long-term economic growth”.
Overall NovaLoca’s statistics from our website* show demand for industrial and land in the region continues to be greater than supply while the reverse is true for retail and office. In a recent report Cushman and Wakefield state interest in office space is picking up but there are low levels of grade A supply. http://www.commercialnewsmedia.com/archives/84030.
*Data gained by comparing the percentage of email enquiries in each property sector with the percentage of properties listed on NovaLoca.
