A £400 million mixed-use development in the heart of Birmingham is approaching the construction phase and will now see close to 800,000 sq ft of office space established in the city over the next few years.
The local council is keen to ensure that suitable office space is available for businesses looking to grow or invest in Birmingham as the city as a whole aims to emerge from a difficult economic period.
With this in mind, Miller Developments and Bridgehouse Capital, the two partners involved in the Arena Central joint venture, are now intending to build roughly 300,000 sq ft more Birmingham office space than they had initially received planning permission for.
A central theme of the endeavour is sustainability, with steps being taken to ensure that the mixed-use site will be given a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.
Touching on the potential economic impact in the local area, Miller Developments director Jonathan Wallis said: “We estimate that the additional 300,000 sq ft of offices will generate over 2,000 office-based jobs in the coming years.”
“Our ability to provide high-quality office space in key strategic locations within the city will be key to our growth as the economy emerges from the downturn,” added Timothy Huxtable, a transport and regeneration leader at Birmingham City Council.
You can see examples of flexi offices in Birmingham here. These offer alternatives to leasing office space on conventional terms and are available on short-term contracts with all-inclusive pricing.
Back in September, the UK’s Green Building Council told attendees at the Labour Party Conference that the successful development of sustainable office space in Manchester had helped revitalise what is the largest and most economically active city in the north-west of England.
Editor’s notes: One of the office buildings at the scheme that was known as Two Arena Central was renamed as One Centenary Square is the UK headquarters for HSBC’s personal and business banking operations.
A deal was agreed with Miller Developments in 2015 where HSBC agreed to forward purchase the building on a 250-year lease – this was the largest commercial property deal in Birmingham since 2002.
Ground was broken in 2015 and the 210,000-square-foot building was completed in 2018 providing space for 1,000 staff.
Kier Property purchased Arena Central in March 2019 giving them the rights to develop three further phases of the site’s existing master plan including the completion of the 3 Arena Central building.
In late 2020, HMRC, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), and the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) took occupation at the 240,000-square-foot 3 Arena Central office building, having agreed on a pre-let deal before completion.
IN March 2021, it was announced that Kier had been given the green light to develop the third office building at the scheme to be known as 5 Centenary Square (5CS). The property will offer 200,000 square feet of office space to let and 160 bicycle spaces.