INTRODUCTION
This prospectus sets out the shared vision for the regeneration of Warwick Bar, one of the most important development opportunities in Birmingham, and the largest untapped regeneration opportunity directly adjacent to HS2, anywhere in the UK.
Warwick Bar consists of over 9 hectares of mostly undeveloped land in the heart of the UK’s second city, owned by Homes England. Only 5 minutes’ walk from the future HS2 Curzon Street Station, the site was formerly at the centre of the UK’s canal and early railway network.
Today, Warwick Bar benefits from significant built and natural assets including nearly 1km of canal and river frontage, alongside historic bridges and canal warehouses. Sitting between the dynamic, creative Digbeth and the Knowledge Quarter of Aston University and Birmingham City University, there is the opportunity for a vibrant new neighbourhood delivering thousands of high quality homes alongside exciting creative, cultural and media uses.
The regeneration of Warwick Bar will play a key role in the future of this part of Birmingham, connecting east to west and north to south, delivering thousands of homes and significant media and creative commercial space, benefiting from and amplifying wider regeneration.
Homes England will bring this opportunity forward in a two phase disposal strategy between autumn 2025 and spring / summer 2026. Undertaking procurement at this time ensures that development can capitalise on the arrival of HS2 at Curzon Street Station as well as the maturing residential market and creative cluster in Digbeth.
Phase 1 will see the procurement of a delivery partner to develop the Fazeley Street parcel, which is circa 1.1 hectares and has key frontage onto Fazeley Street and the Grand Union Canal. Already home to MasterChef at Banana Warehouse and Grand Union at Junction Works, a strong creative offering is emerging on site adjacent to the BBC West Midlands HQ at the Tea Factory, The Bond and the Custard Factory.
Phase 2 encompasses the remaining land parcels totalling circa 8 hectares. With extensive canal and river frontage, as well as prominent heritage assets including the Duddeston Viaduct, where Birmingham City Council aspires to a new Sky Park, Warwick Bar will become a new residential-led mixed-use neighbourhood supporting new homes, workspaces and the creative industries.
As a public sector organisation, Homes England will undertake an open competitive procurement process in line with the Procurement Act 2023 for both phases. The procurement documents will include a comprehensive development brief that interested parties will respond to as part of the procurement process. Extensive due diligence has been undertaken, including analysis of site constraints, and this will be shared alongside the development brief.
2027
Phase 1 Phase 2
→ The Fellows Morton and Clayton building on Fazeley Street
WARWICK BAR
Warwick Bar consists of 9 hectares of brownfield land owned by Homes England. The River Rea and the historic canal network run through the centre. It is subdivided into five sites – Fazeley Street, SITA, Montague Street, Belmont Passage and Great Barr Street. Fazeley Street will form Phase 1.
SITA
MONTAGUE STREET
GREAT BARR STREET
PHASE 2
BELMONT PASSAGE
FAZELEY STREET
PHASE 1
THE OPPORTUNITY
Warwick Bar is a key opportunity in Digbeth’s ongoing transformation. The site sits in a unique position, leveraging the connectivity of HS2, the proximity to a growing city centre, the creativity and heritage of Digbeth, and the skills in the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, connecting this to the emerging regeneration to the east.
THE OPPORTUNITY
CONNECTED
Warwick Bar is the largest untapped regeneration opportunity directly adjacent to HS2 anywhere in the UK. With access to the HS2 Eastern Concourse in 5 minutes, the door to door journey time to central London will be under an hour. The site is within a short walk of the city centre, including Birmingham Moor Street and New Street stations, and has direct access to the Middleway ring road.
The completion of HS2 is a major opportunity and a catalyst for growth. This and the Eastside Extension of the Birmingham metro provide improved multi-modal access to the wider city region and to London from Digbeth. The Digbeth Active Travel and High Streets initiative is already improving walking and cycling routes across the area.
The main campus of Birmingham City University and the BBC’s new home at the Typhoo Tea Factory are less than five minutes away on foot, with Aston University and the heart of Digbeth at the Custard Factory only ten minutes away.
HOMES AND REGENERATION
CREATIVE CULTURE
Birmingham’s reputation as a centre for economic growth outside of the capital continues to strengthen. Developers are responding to the opportunity by bringing forward residential and commercial projects across the city.
House prices in Birmingham are growing at a faster rate than those in London and rental growth for Birmingham’s new build flats is the highest amongst the biggest UK cities outside of London.
In Digbeth, independent businesses, bars and restaurants alongside digital, tech and creative start ups have created a bustling and vibrant atmosphere day and night.
With multiple projects already delivered, breaking ground and in the pipeline, Digbeth’s creativity, cultural heritage, and new residential neighbourhoods are accelerating the regeneration of this and surrounding areas.
Perfectly located within Digbeth’s creative economy, the area surrounding Warwick Bar is undergoing significant transformation, including at the Custard Factory, BBC Studios, The Bond, and Junction Works, all of which contribute to an exciting future for one of the UK’s most creative urban quarters.
Digbeth is already the cultural capital of Birmingham. It is home to a well-established community of arts and cultural organisations, start-ups, and education and skills organisations that will be key to Digbeth’s creative cluster as it matures over coming years.
Digbeth’s fast growing creative cluster is attracting creative entrepreneurs, content creators and new talent to this leisure, tech and creative destination within the city centre.
THE OPPORTUNITY
MARTINEAU GALLERIES
OVAL MASTERPLAN
EASTSIDE CITY PARK
BULLRING
SMITHFIELD MASTERPLAN
HS2 CURZON STREET
MOOR STREET STATION
TYPHOO MASTERPLAN
BBC: TEA FACTORY
BIRMINGHAM CITY UNI
BEORMA QUARTER
FACTORY
WARWICK BAR
GARRISON CIRCUS
DYNAMIC DIGBETH
MEDIA PRODUCTION
Digbeth is already securing national investment with leading film and TV organisations relocating here. This is a growing economic sector and creative cluster in the city, with significant TV and film productions already being made in Digbeth, with more on the horizon.
Creativity and the creative industries are key to the West Midlands Growth Plan, with a strategy for economic transformation, celebrating the region’s legacy of invention and cultural production.
Digbeth, with its thriving creative economy, is central to the realisation of this vision. Birmingham City Council’s ambitious framework for city centre growth, Our Future City: Central Birmingham Framework 2045, champions Digbeth as the city’s creative quarter. Alongside well-established creative hubs, the creative industries, including media production, are emerging as an exciting new facet to the Digbeth scene.
Recent success stories include:
→ Shine TV making the Banana Warehouse at Warwick Bar the new home of MasterChef.
→ Digbeth Loc, repurposing existing warehouse buildings at Warwick Bar as studios for film and TV productions.
→ Oval Estate’s The Bond on Fazeley Street, home to Late Night Lycett.
→ BBC West Midlands HQ moving to the Tea Factory including BBC Asian Network.
THE BBC IN DIGBETH
The BBC has made a significant commitment in its recent MoU with the West Midlands Combined Authority. It will increase its production investment in the West Midlands to £40 million per annum by 2027, further supporting creative growth in the region.
The BBC’s investment in the West Midlands since 2021 is on track to generate £282 million of economic benefit in the region by 2031. The announced additional funding will further increase this positive economic impact.
Alongside this investment:
→ BBC Studios will set up a new purpose-built production base in Digbeth for use by BBC Studios and third-party commissions.
→ BBC Studioworks and Digbeth Loc. Studios have joined forces to cement Birmingham as one of the UK’s most dynamic homes for storytelling.
OUR VISION
Warwick Bar will be a new urban city centre neighbourhood - a residential-led mixed use quarter centred around new waterside public realm that delivers thousands of new homes and supports the growth of the Digbeth creative quarter, with a particular focus on media production. Indicative illustration.
THE WILD RIVER REA
SKY PARK CONNECTION
A naturalised River Rea Connection to the Sky Park at Great Barr Street
OUR VISION
LINKING CITY AND EAST
The regeneration of Warwick Bar will play a key role in connecting the city centre and HS2 with East Birmingham, and Digbeth with the Knowledge Quarter.
One of the key gateways to Warwick Bar will be via the existing Cattle Bridge, which will be refurbished and form a core part of a route across the SITA and Belmont Passage sites towards Garrison Park and East Birmingham.
At the Cattle Bridge, there will be a visual link to the Banana Warehouse and Gun Barrel Proof House , with a stunning vista of HS2 Curzon Street and the city centre skyline beyond. Here, a direct link could be made to the canal towpath, offering a place to dwell and enjoy the view.
CREATIVE CULTURE AT THE HEART
Digbeth is already securing film and TV investment, with leading organisations locating their studios here. There is the clear opportunity for the Fazeley Street site to become the hub of this creative cluster, linking to the wider creative economy in Digbeth and providing additional studio and production space.
Opportunities for these creative uses to proliferate across the wider Warwick Bar sites will be encouraged.
The Cattle Bridge with city skyline behind
A future vision for Fazeley Street
DELIVERY
PARTNERSHIP
The opportunity at Warwick Bar is underpinned by strong public sector collaboration. Homes England is working collaboratively with Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Growth Company, and West Midlands Combined Authority through the Strategic Place Partnership to ensure a public sector wide approach, with a clear vision and collective effort to enable delivery. Our partnership approach will be strengthened by the recently announced Mayoral Development Corporation.
Through strategic priorities, funding opportunities and delivery capacity, the public sector partners support place-based transformation that reflects both local ambition and the regional significance of Warwick Bar. The project is a clearly identified priority for Birmingham given its anticipated potential to deliver wider benefits through its focus on placemaking, economic revitalisation and inclusive growth.
The indicative proposals in this prospectus are underpinned by Birmingham’s regeneration framework, as set out in the Our Future City: Central Birmingham Framework 2045, and the emerging planning policy, the Birmingham Local Plan. Developers will be encouraged to engage with the Council’s pre-application process, while all proposals will be subject to normal planning procedures at the application stage.
Other key partners include the Local Lead Flood Authority, Environment Agency, and Canal and River Trust regarding the treatment of the River Rea and Canal, initial discussions have begun. Development partners will also be expected to engage with local landowners to support the delivery of the vision at Warwick Bar.
CAPACITY AND USES
Delivery at Warwick Bar will create a new and sustainable place contributing to the housing and economic growth of Birmingham. Significant housing delivery alongside ancillary uses for the benefit of new residents and existing communities combined with media and creative workspace will enable meaningful placemaking.
Our shared aspiration is for delivery of at least 1,700 homes across the sites depending on the extent of work and production space.
Current creative uses across the site include 50,000 sqft of interim production space on Montague Street as well as the MasterChef Studios and small businesses on Fazeley Street. We would like to see the interim production space reprovided across Warwick Bar, contributing to the growth of the Digbeth creative cluster. Initial calculations suggest that there is capacity for upwards of 110,000 sqft of studio, media and creative uses but this will, of course, be contingent on market factors and ongoing discussion with stakeholders.
For further information in advance of the procurement process, and to receive a digital version of this prospectus, please contact:
digbeth@homesengland.gov.uk
mail@howells.uk
www.howells.uk
Produced by Homes England and Howells