Birmingham LEP approves £61.3 million funding for Paradise Circus19th March 2013

The redevelopment of Birmingham's Paradise Circus is moving forward after the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) approved an Enterprise Zone resource allocation of £61.3m. Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet is set to approve the Full Business Case for the development, which will be taken forward through an innovative Joint Venture (JV) between the landowners.

The Enterprise Zone resource allocation approved by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP (GBSLEP) board last week (14 March 2013) will enable the city council to borrow the £61.3m and use additional business rate uplift income generated from the development to fund the borrowing.

Argent – the developer behind Brindleyplace – was granted outline planning permission last year for the city centre site between Chamberlain Square and Centenary Square, and this is expected to generate up to 12,000 jobs with its 1.8 million sq ft mixed-use development.

Approval for the Full Business Case and Joint Venture by the Cabinet on 25 March 2013 will give the go-ahead for the detailed design of the phase one works to start this spring and development works to start in autumn 2014.

This £61.3m tranche of funding will enable the first two phases of infrastructure works. The whole scheme requires £83.4m of Enterprise Zone resource allocation for the public infrastructure works, which include demolition, highways and landscaping.

The total investment will create a net growth in business rates of £180.5m over the 25-year life of the Enterprise Zone. This will enable further investment in regeneration projects.

Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “This is the first time this type of Joint Venture (JV) structure and funding package has been used in England and Wales to deliver regeneration. It has been made possible because Paradise Circus is included in the Enterprise Zone and facilitated by the close working relationship between the city council, Argent and the LEP.”

Rob Groves, leading the project for Argent, said: “Following the GBSLEP board’s approval, we are very pleased that the business case for the joint venture with Birmingham City Council on the Paradise Circus proposals is to be considered by Cabinet. Obviously, we cannot pre-empt the decision but we are confident that a robust case has been made and are hopeful of a positive outcome. If approved, this will be an extremely significant milestone in the delivery of a truly transformational proposal for the city. After many years of planning, consultation and preparation, the decision would make the delivery of the first phase of the Paradise Circus redevelopment very much a reality. With the full support and backing of Birmingham City Council and GBSLEP, we would be able to move forward on this major project.’’