Plans for a major new mixed-use development comprising a hotel, residential accommodation and new business space in Birmingham has been given the green light by city planners.
Developer Cole Waterhouse has won the city council planning committee's backing today for its £260 million canalside scheme in Digbeth which will see a host of industrial buildings demolished to make way for the project.
The masterplan comprises a series of nine blocks ranging from two to 32 storeys containing up to 943 residential units, 64,580 sq ft of flexible commercial space, a 133-bedroom hotel and roof gardens.
There will also be parking for 66 cars, a piece of public art, a skypark on Duddeston Viaduct and 'Pump House Park' at the site at Upper Trinity Street and Adderley Street.
A former lock keeper's cottage, a locally listed operational pump house and a canal gauging weir at the five-acre development site will be retained as part of the new development.
A legal agreement will ensure discounted rent for the Pat Benson Boxing Academy, Museum of Youth Culture and Birmingham Music Archive which will be based there.
The project had received objections from local night-time venues which feared it could draw noise complaints from residents.
Cole Waterhouse is a developer and investor with offices in Manchester and London and first unveiled its plans in April last year for the project which has been designed by Corstorphine + Wright Architects.
The scheme is expected to create 600 jobs during the construction phase, deliver £229.5 million GVA to the local economy and create more than 300 additional jobs once built.
When funding is secured, work is expected to start next summer and the first phase will complete in 2025.
Jez Collins, founder of Birmingham Music Archive and a Birmingham City University researcher, has been hired as the project's local cultural lead and is working with the developers with the aim of supporting and protecting the area's heritage and culture.
Following today's planning committee decision, Cole Waterhouse's chief executive Damian Flood said: "Our vision for Upper Trinity Street is to create a superb new space for Digbeth which marries the area's rich industrial history and diverse culture with high-quality, well-designed buildings and spaces for future generations to enjoy.
"This is a really important moment in Digbeth's continuing evolution and we are very proud to have been granted permission to proceed.
"As developers we take our responsibility to nurture the unique ‘Digbethness' of the area very seriously."
