Ballymore, Birmingham council and Network Rail are hatching a plan to develop one of the UK’s largest office blocks.
The trio are working up a proposal for a 10-storey office development of up to 1m sq ft above the NCP multi-storey car park at Snow Hill station in Birmingham.
The council has commissioned London-based Alan Baxter Associates to draw up a feasibility study for an office block of between 500,000 sq ft and 1m sq ft, with a potential value of more than £400m.
It would make up the fourth phase of Ballymore’s high-profile Snowhill scheme and, if it progresses as a single office block, would be one of the largest outside London’s Canary Wharf.
A source said: “Council leader Sir Albert Bore is really behind the idea. It is a long-term vision, and could be five to 10 years away, but if it gets off the drawing board it will be a great addition to Birmingham’s skyline.”
During the recession, Ballymore shelved plans for a different fourth phase of Snowhill comprising a 43-storey residential tower and 23-storey five-star hotel.
But increasing confidence in the recovery of the UK’s regions and a lack of available grade-A offices in Birmingham have led the developer and council to believe they could tempt investors to help bring forward the emerging proposals.
The NCP car park sits at the back of the existing four-acre Snowhill site. The aim is to tie the new building into the existing 850,000 sq ft office-led scheme, which comprises two completed buildings and a £100m, 250,000 sq ft third phase where work has started on site and completion is due in 2017.
Snowhill is highlighted as a key area of transformation in Birmingham council’s Big City Plan, which covers 2,000 acres across the city centre.
It forms part of the 26 sites which make up the city centre enterprise zone.
Deloitte’s latest UK Cities Crane Survey, released this week, revealed further signs of recovery in major regional cities.
The survey said 45 major projects were started in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh between July 2012 and July 2013, an 80% increase on the prior year.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
