£75m tower and 500 jobs for Birmingham
A £75m 25-floor building is being lined up for the "Bond Street" of Birmingham. It is estimated the creation of the Queensgate project will create up to 500 jobs.
Plans for the tower, which were submitted by Irish developer Manor Park Developments, include a 259-bedroom hotel and 144-bedroom apart-hotel. It has since been given planning consent by Birmingham City Council.
Queensgate will be located next to the Mailbox and recently-completed Cube development.
European serviced-apartment operator, StayCity, has signed a lease on the tower block. Mike Coffey, managing director of associated company New Manor Developments, said an operator for the hotel would be announced “very soon”.
He said: “Queensgate will sit comfortably among Birmingham’s jewels in the city’s ongoing architectural renaissance. It will literally transform the city’s skyline on the west side into the bargain.”
New Manor Developments – the company behind the Boxworks development in the city’s jewellery quarter – predicts the project will create about 500 new jobs, both in construction and the ongoing travel and leisure services.
“The fact that all of the space has been pre-let is a sure-fire sign of confidence returning to the region’s property market. The project will be another example of construction aiding the economic rejuvenation of Birmingham city centre," said Coffey.
The company said it expects construction to begin in 2011, with completion estimated for early 2013.
Manor Park Developments is working alongside D5 Architects to complete the project. Acquisition agents Maguire Jackson advised the purchasers, with McNaughton Associates advising the vendor.
