A funding deal to purchase a bus depot as part of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been approved at eight times its original value after "inaccurate" costings were provided by an external consultant.
A report published on New Year's Eve by the council said it needed the "emergency approval" for the £16.4 million cost of purchasing the National Express site in Wellhead Lane and building its replacement.
The deal is required as part of the athletes' village project in Perry Barr and will enable National Express to move to a brand new depot less than half a mile away in the same road.
Normally, the deal would have been discussed at the next cabinet meeting on January 21 but waiting until then would have delayed the delivery of the replacement bus depot and significantly jeopardised the delivery of the athletes' village, according to the report.
The replacement bus depot site comprises mainly council-owned land, a JobCentre, car parts retailer and car wash company - all of which will have to vacate their premises.
Acquisition and development of the new bus depot was originally supposed to be £2 million but the report said this figure was "based on limited information and a number of assumptions and exclusions".
This cost has now been capped at £15.5 million, with a further £900,000 allocated for stamp duty and professional services fees.
Referring to the stark increase in costs, the report said: "The increase of £13.5million is a result of full details being provided and costs being rebased to align with development timescales.
"The original cost estimate was provided by an external consultant and work will be undertaken in due course to understand why the estimate proved to be so inaccurate."
A statement from Birmingham City Council added: "A revised full business case is being prepared, reflecting the details outlined in the bus depot report and other changes to the programme.
"This will be presented to cabinet for approval in February.
"All costs will be managed within the overall cash envelope approved through the revised full business case."
