Regal Tower renders go public

Six months after I first posted renders of Regal Tower, today they have officially gone public.  Seems my scoop was accurate.

Property Week,

MIPIM 2009: Brum developer plans £125m tower
14:43 | 09.03.09
By Jennifer Rigby

Midlands developer Regal Property Group has unveiled plans for one of Birmingham’s largest towers, which it plans to build on Broad Street in the city.

It will announce at MIPIM 2009 in Cannes this week that it plans to make its proposals to Birmingham City Council at the next cabinet meeting on 19 March and submit a planning application in May.

The tower will be designed by Aedas and include a hotel, retail, leisure and residential on the site next to Brindleyplace. It will also feature the city’s highest bar at the top of the tower.

Regal Property managing director Roger Holbeche said: ‘Regal Tower will be one of Birmingham’s tallest buildings and is set to alter the city’s skyline.

‘Regal Property Group is committed to the continued development of Birmingham’s Westside and the ongoing success of the city.’

Subject to planning approval, work is expected to start in 2010, with completion in 2013.

Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: ‘The continued commitment we are seeing from developers and investors, even in these uncertain times, is very encouraging and I believe testament to the long-term stable opportunities that this growing city has to offer.’

InvestBX

Midlands developer Regal Property Group has chosen MIPIM 2009 to announce that its long anticipated £125m mixed-use Regal Tower is set to go ahead in Birmingham.

Regal managing director Roger Holbeche said the proposals were being unveiled to Birmingham City Council’s next cabinet meeting on Thursday, March 19, and that the company would be submitting a planning application in May.

The proposed tower on a prime site on the corner of Broad Street and Sheepcote Street, next to Brindleyplace, is designed by internationally renowned architects Aedas and will include a hotel, retail, leisure and city living. Roger Holbeche said: “Regal Tower will be one of Birmingham’s tallest buildings and is set to alter the city’s skyline with its inspirational design.

It will provide the highest fine dining and drinking venue in the city within its premier sky bar.

Pledging the company’s continued commitment to the city, he said he believed that despite the current downturn, those developers that remained focused on the available opportunities in Birmingham would benefit in the long-term.

He continued: “Regal Property Group is committed to the continued development of Birmingham’s Westside and the ongoing success of the city. “Regal Tower represents an exciting project for Broad Street and the city as a whole, with the scheme contributing £125million of new investment at a time when the economy is experiencing a recession. “Regal Tower responds to the Big City Plan’s ambition for more tall buildings in Birmingham and we are delighted to be able to contribute to that agenda with this strategic site.

We are continuing to work closely with Birmingham City Council to work up the development proposals and plan to go out to public consultation during April, with a planning application following during May.” Subject to planning approval, work on site is expected to commence in early 2010, with the three-year build programme set for completion in early 2013.

The project will create a significant number of construction jobs for Birmingham people. The mix of leisure uses within Regal Tower has been designed to complement Brindleyplace and the additional office buildings situated on Broad Street, Five Ways roundabout and the rest of Westside. Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “The continued commitment we are seeing from developers and investors, even in these uncertain times, is very encouraging and I believe testament to the long-term stable opportunities that this growing city has to offer.”

Copyright 2009, Newsco Insider Limited

MacDermid to leave Eastside

News has come in from Birmingham Central Blog and the Birmingham Mail that MacDermid are to leave the Bordesley side of the designated Eastside development area and move the Small Heath.

More disused units, most possible that they will get bulldozed.  With nobody having the guts to build there way out of the world recession, I believe it’s going to be a long time ’til we see something.

Quotes from the Birmingham Mail article:

The company known as W Canning – but now owned by US conglomerate MacDermid Inc – was founded in 1785 and is developing an 83,000 sq ft research and manufacturing base on a five-acre brownfield site in Small Heath.

All 100 existing jobs will be preserved by the relocation from its present Bordesley site and, despite the ongoing economic volatility, the workforce is expected to expand after the move, which is on course for summer 2009.

……

The former Bordesley plant was located within the area designated as Eastside, Europe’s largest urban regeneration scheme, and it took many months and much negotiation to agree that the company would look for a new site and relocate by 2009.

Phasey says the current city council, and its Locate in Birmingham arm, have both been very helpful in the firm’s attempts to find suitable premises.

“We didn’t want to leave Birmingham, as it was unlikely that our entire skilled workforce would be able to relocate with us. We did consider Redditch, but when we heard about the Small Heath site, it sounded ideal,” he said. “We knew AWM had bought the site for employment purposes, but when we saw the old BSA factory and realised how much work was needed, we did start to think again.

Hello Eastside!

Hi all

To introduce myself, I am Kenny Laurie, a new migrant to Birmingham from the sunny shores of Leicester, arriving around six months ago by train. I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to defile this wonderful blog with my incoherent thoughts and drivviling prophecies by my glorious leader Simon Howes.

I work at the Big Cat Group in St Paul’s Square doing a lot of work for the Custard Factory having previously been a music teacher and cow farmer (varied background).

I’m a relative novice to this world but like everyone on the planet, I’m a huge supporter of Eastside and the part it can play in the future of Birmingham.

I have a wee bit of blogging experience on my company blog and I am plundering through a crash course of trial and error in the art of social media. I can also be found on twitter and I would love to get to know more interesting Birmingham folk through these wonderful new apps.

I will be commenting obviously on Eastside and Birmingham’s creativity in which ever form it comes as well providing links to relevant points of interest.

Please feel free to join me on Facebook also. (please excuse my woeful file photo)

Eastside Blog needs Contributors

I’m asking if anyone would like to write for, or take on this blog.

Westside

Eastside, meet Westside.

Anyone want to start a Westside blog?  Far more exciting than dull Eastside.  You have three planned 150m+ towers, controversial plans to knock down Central Library, Arena Central development and reshaping of Centenary Square for the new library etc.

Simon Felton at Birmingham Central and Jon Bounds at Brum it’s a hit (OK, It’s Not Shit!) has also covered Westside.

UB40′s Red Red Wine pub becomes a victim of the Credit Crunch

The Sunday Mercury have covered the closing of the Eagle and Tun.  Last time I knew it was open it was being used by Birmingham City University as classrooms.  Hopefully the new City Centre campus and thousands of students and local residence coming to Eastside will bring this pub back to life.

IT is the world-famous pub where Birmingham supergroup UB40 filmed the video for their biggest hit, Red Red Wine.

But now The Eagle & Tun in Banbury Street, Digbeth, has become the latest victim of the credit crunch.

Time was called on the historic Victorian venue several months ago and it is now a boarded-up shell.

Yet The Eagle & Tun is fondly remembered as the pub where UB40 filmed their Red, Red, Wine video in the 1980s and it also featured on their million-selling Best Of… album cover.

The boozer has also been the scene of many of the band’s Fan Fest events which attract enthusiasts from across the world.

Boarded up

Last night UB40 fanatic Helena Payne, from Birmingham, said the pub closure marked the end of an era.

“The Eagle & Tun was an historical venue for UB40 and their fans, so it’s really sad to see it boarded up and shut down,’’ she said.

“The Fan Fest has had events at The Eagle & Tun for 11 years and it was a great venue for everyone as it was just around the corner from UB40’s studio.

‘‘It was our main meeting place and as well as the bigger gatherings, we would often hold mini-events there as well.

“The pub also has history with band members who used to drink there regularly and of course they used it for a couple of album covers, as well as the Red Red Wine video.”

Over the past two years The Eagle & Tun had gone through at least six landlords, Helena said.

“It was constantly closing and opening up again and it seemed there was just not enough custom around,’’ she said.

‘‘But when it shut the last time we thought it wouldn’t be long before someone else was found to run it. But it’s been closed for a while now, so although we really hope someone will take it over, we’re not hopeful that will happen.

“I don’t know what’s in store for the building. It may turn into apartments or it could even be knocked down.”

“There was always a huge display of photographs of the band and members of Fan Fest inside the venue, but I don’t know what’s happened to those.”

The pub was also where fband members Ali and Robin Campbell wrote their huge hits, including One In Ten.

Here is the video for nostalgia purposes.

UB40 – Red Red Wine

New Links

Be Birmingham

City Park Gate

My Driving Test

As some of you may know I had my driving test in the early hours of this morning (7:20AM).

I passed!  Yay!

Regal Tower – Renders

Just stumbled across a Regal Tower microsite (EDIT now taken down).   This will be a 56 storey tower (maybe higher), residential and five star hotel, at a cost of £200m.  Completion date 2012.  Now who said something about a credit crunch?

If you want to know how tall this building will be, Hyatt Hotel on Broad Street is 75m in height, next to Regal (see end of post for map) we will have Broad Street Tower which will be 134m in height, 38 floors.  Regal is 56+ floors and may well be between 160m and 200m.

Eastside has VTP200 planned, this will be 200m in height, however it be on far lower ground, therefore from a distance VTP200 may not look any higher than the BT Tower, which measures at 152m in height.  Broad Street is on higher ground than BT, so it will really poke high in the sky.

Jon Bounds has asked where will this be, it will be on Broad Street.

View Larger Map

Deritend Bridge, anyone know anything about it?

Anyone know what happened to this?

A Major Mixed Use Scheme In Birmingham City Centre

Situated between Digbeth High Street and Bradford Street, Deritend Bridge is a mixed use development comprising offices, shops, hotel and residential accommodation. Outline Planning Approval has been granted for a total area of 31, 000 sqm. The development site is bisected by the River Rea which allows for a public space in the heart of the site and a riverside walkway to generate a high level of pedestrian access into and through the development. Two basement car parks serve the multi-storey blocks over.

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Key Facts

Status Outline Planning Permission Granted
Value € 57(M)