Work starts on £100m Birmingham apartment complex

Work has started on a major new residential and commercial development in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter following agreement of a £100 million funding deal.

Legal & General announced in December it would forward funding the ‘Hockley Mills’ scheme next to the district’s station where 395 apartments to rent and 28,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space will be built across eight blocks.

There will also be a new entrance linking the complex directly to the Jewellery Quarter railway and tram station and 116 car parking spaces.

The four-acre development site in Pitsford Street, which was previously occupied by auto service centre Mr Tyre, has now been handed over to Legal & General and contractor Sir Robert McAlpine.

Construction work is due to be completed in early 2024.

Jewellery Quarter-based developer Cordia Blackswan led the project through the planning and funding process.

Blackswan was acquired by Hungarian-based property developer Cordia International last summer, marking the company’s first venture into the UK market.

It now has a £600 million development pipeline comprising 1,800 residential units and 360,000 sq.ft of commercial space across the West Midlands.

Cordia Blackswan’s managing director Marcus Hawley said: “It’s been a great achievement to get the Hockley Mills project through the tough planning stages and finding funding for the project.

“As part of our ongoing vision, and in alignment with our partnership with Cordia, we will now be focusing on other projects within Birmingham and the Jewellery Quarter.

“We are now streamlining our focus to our other sites, such as the Gothic, and negotiating the acquisition of several new sites across the city.”

John Parnell, project director at Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures, said: “We are delighted to work alongside Legal & General on this landmark development in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and hope this will be the first of many projects together in this sector.”