GENSOCIAL
Plans to build a 51-storey apartment tower in Birmingham are set to win the city’s backing again despite continued objections from heritage campaigners.
City developer Court Collaboration is behind the £160 million One Eastside scheme at the corner of Jennens Road and James Watt Queensway, a stone’s throw from the new HS2 station.
The firm is hoping to secure the green light for the project which will see three blocks of two, 16 and 51 storeys respectively constructed on the vacant land, containing 667 one- and two-bedroom apartments to rent.
Twenty of these would be classed as ‘affordable’ and charged at 20 per cent below local market value in perpetuity.
There will also be co-working space and amenities for residents such as a cinema room, sky lounge and gym but no car parking.
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At 525 ft, it would surpass the BT Tower as the city’s tallest building and is expected to employ 635 direct and indirect construction jobs.
It has previously received planning consent but the application hit the buffers in December when it emerged an objection by the Victorian Society had not been included in a report to councillors.
The report was prepared for the council’s planning committee ahead of a meeting last April but it had failed to include comments from the campaign group which is against the development.
This, along with several other reasons, had meant One Eastside was set to go before a judicial review until the council conceded it was an error to omit those objections from that report last April.
Court Collaboration was therefore forced to resubmit its planning application which is materially unchanged from its previous proposals.
The Victorian Society continues to object to the project, claiming it would have a detrimental impact on historic buildings in the local vicinity such as Curzon Street station, Victoria Law Courts and Methodist Central Hall.
Despite this, One Eastside has been recommended for approval again by officers ahead of the latest planning committee meeting, due to take place next Thursday.
A new council report said: “The proposal would provide a landmark tower development and result in a high-quality redevelopment of a brownfield site on a prominent and sustainable city centre location.
“Objections have been fully appraised and considered alongside the development plan policy and other material considerations with the development’s impact on heritage, overshadowing and wider infrastructure provision.
“However, on balance, when considering all the factors at play in this scheme, the substantial wider public benefits of the redevelopment are considered to outweigh the harm from any potential impacts.”
