Nikal secures £100m PRS funding deal for Brum PRS

Exchange-Square-Birmingham-570pxMIPIM 2016: Manchester-based property company Nikal has secured funding for its major residential scheme Exchange Square, in Birmingham’s city centre.

The developer announced the £100m funding deal at MIPIM for the proposed development which is aimed at the private rented sector (PRS).

The deal follows on from Nikal submitting a reserved matters planning application for the scheme last month. Subject to consent, work is set to start on site this summer to build 603 new city centre flats in a trio of buildings, eight, 15 and 26 storeys high.

Alongside the flats, the application also makes provision for 187 car parking spaces and 27,500 sq ft of ground-floor shops, a 5,850 sq ft members’ club-style hub that will contain services for residents, including a concierge and access to a private lounge that will open onto a landscaped rooftop garden covering more than 20,000 sq ft.

The Stephenson Studio-designed development will sit close to the proposed HS2 terminus, known as Birmingham Curzon station, and between the city’s central business district and Eastside City Park. Nikal aims to attract a wide range of professionals to the development underpinned by the city’s growing financial services sector.

Completion of the final block will be before the end of 2019. An application for a second phase of development, including an additional building – likely to be a 32-storey tower designed by Ian Simpson Architects – and a new public square, will follow shortly.

Nikal secured an amendment to its original planning application – for up to 600,000 sq ft of grade-A offices, shops and a further space earmarked for a 200-bedroom hotel or residential element – in 2014, enabling it to deliver up to 1,000 new homes.

Knight Frank and Savills are joint sales agents on the scheme.

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