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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Tamlyn Jones

Moda Living announces expansion plans for Birmingham residential project

A new residential development in Birmingham is set to be boosted by a further 1,600 units.

Developer and rental property operator Moda Living has announced the next stages of the New Garden Square project in Edgbaston where work is nearing completion on phase one.

The Harrogate-based firm said it wanted to build 1,600 homes and £6 million worth of public realm including a park at the 11-acre site, bordered by Hagley Road and Beaufort Road.

Its proposals also include workspace and commercial units for retail, leisure and food and drink operators.

The final designs, including height and the mix of housing sizes, are still being confirmed but newly released CGIs suggest a series of unconnected apartment blocks including at least one tall tower.

The first planning application is due to be submitted to Birmingham City Council by the end of this year. Moda Living said the new units would "span a range of tenures and price points to attract a mix of people to the neighbourhood".

A topping out ceremony has also just been held for phase one of New Garden Square which contains 392 apartments to rent and which will be available in the first half of next year.

Managing director Tony Brooks said: "Our focus has always been on delivering best-in-class places where communities can thrive and individuals can live their healthiest, happiest lives.

"With 'Moda Neighbourhoods', we can channel our expertise and strong track record for delivery into curating outstanding urban districts that boost skills, sustainability and local economies while blending with their surroundings to create seamless city experiences for residents, workers, students and visitors that meet all of their wants and needs in one neighbourhood.

"This strategy will facilitate delivery of state-of-the-art infrastructure, thousands of much-needed, energy-efficient homes and smart buildings targeting net zero.

"New Garden Square is an outstanding opportunity for us to launch this new strategy for the Moda business within a vibrant, exciting part of this city that we love."

Proposals for New Garden Square were first launched in 2016 by Calthorpe Estates, the historic Birmingham property group which owns a large swathe of land across the Edgbaston district known collectively as the 'Calthorpe Estate'.

Early iterations of the development contained plans for around 500,000 sq ft of office space and a 100-bedroom hotel alongside apartments and accommodation for food and beverage operators.

But in 2021 Moda Living announced it had teamed up with a US investor to deliver a new portfolio of residential projects across the UK, starting with New Garden Square.

Moda Living's other projects in Birmingham comprise The Mercian, a 42-storey apartment tower in Broad Street which opened last year, and Great Charles Street on Ludgate Hill Car Park in the Jewellery Quarter. Ground was broken in April on this project which will eventually contain 722 apartments across a series of blocks reaching 39 storeys.

Family-owned Calthorpe Estates, whose roots date back to 1717, has a separate ongoing project called Edgbaston Village which has seen a slew of renovation and regeneration work on properties and public realm around Greenfield Crescent and surrounding roads.

The area was boosted last summer when the 'Westside' extension of the West Midlands Metro network opened, connecting Edgbaston with New Street station and the city's Colmore business district.

Haydn Cooper, chief executive of Calthorpe Estates, added: "Edgbaston is a vibrant and evolving city district which will be further enhanced by this mixed-use regeneration providing new future-enabled homes.

"We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Moda to further our objective of creating exceptional places.

"This site was last developed for commercial use over 50 years ago so we are looking forward to working with Moda on a masterplan which is exceptional, sustainable, connected and integrated into the wider Edgbaston community."

From left: Andrew Parker from Moda Living, Mark Jones from Winvic and Simon Delahunty-Forrest from Birmingham City Council mark the topping out of phase one of New Garden Square in Edgbaston, Birmingham (Simon Hadley)
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