Property Advantage West Midlands
Issue 23 www.propertyadvantage.info
Contents
03
Inside advantage From your Editor, Ian Halstead June‘s news that Birmingham’s towering £80 million courts complex had fallen victim to the coalition’s spending cuts was predictable a month earlier, when it became clear that big-ticket projects yet to break ground would be targeted. Officially, the Ministry of Justice - which spent three years telling everyone the scheme was vital, to replace Birmingham’s rundown and inefficient magistrates’ courts - has merely postponed the project to see if it is ‘affordable’. The word is clearly a moveable feast, given that the department has already spent some £12m buying the Eastside site, and blown millions more on advisers, agents, and most of all, on bringing in architects Denton Corker Marshall to design the tower.
More importantly, what future has Eastside in the short-term, given that its much-touted public sector anchor has disappeared? Glenn Howells will need to be at his most innovative and radical best, to conceive a viable masterplan for a sprawling area long seen, especially by the city council, as the city’s next economic development zone. Mike Whitby once described the courts complex as ‘crucial’ for Eastside, and Masshouse Developments regarded it as equally important to establish the site’s credentials, particularly as a location for public sector relocations. Had Labour managed to stay in power in Birmingham, of course, the new library - at least, the one designed by Lord Rogers - would have been close to completion on Eastside, and provided the perfect anchor to give the zone critical mass. Hindsight is all, but some of those who voted out the original library proposals, and chose instead the Centenary Square site, must surely wish they hadn’t. Yours, Ian Halstead Editor, Property Advantage
Front cover image. The newest arrival on Birmingham’s city centre streetscape, the Cube, is on course for completion this summer, and on p9, PwC partner Matthew Hammond gives his thoughts on the scheme’s progress, and its future. Our eye-catching visual is a shot of the atrium, by photographer Craig Holmes.
Contents 04 News & Deals. – JLL head targets relocation. – CBRE’s Hancox on the road. – St Mods’ Murray looks ahead. 08 Urban Regeneration. – Howells is thinking positive. – Hammond takes long view. 12 Sustainability. – WRC eyes up office deals. – Amelia lands at Bromford. – Jones likes what he sees. – Square Dot deliver again. 18 Coventry & Warwicks. – AWM’s Roberts is bullish. – Rental market takes off. 22 Property Finance. – Handelsbanken’s view. 23 Point of View. – by Hereford’s Jon Turner.
Property Advantage is conceived, designed & produced for you by: Open Box Media & Communications 32–35 Hall Street Birmingham B18 6BS +44 (0) 121 608 2300 www.ob-mc.co.uk Contact. Samantha Skiller sam.s@ob-mc.co.uk Stuart Walters stuart.w@ob-mc.co.uk Design & Art Direction. Lee Murphy lee.m@ob-mc.co.uk Editor. Ian Halstead halsteadian@aol.com The Publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in Property Advantage are not representative of Open Box and accept no responsibility for the views expressed by our contributors.
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