There are exciting times ahead for Birmingham as business booms and new developments revitalise the city centre, according to one of the region’s leading commercial property experts.
Nick Wint, partner at Birmingham-based chartered surveyors Johnson Fellows, said a series of high profile building and redevelopment programmes promise to reaffirm the city’s position as Britain’s second city behind London.
With new developments taking place at Grand Central and New Street Station, as well as Constitution Hill, Great Charles Square and Summer Row, the city has grown in confidence again, he said.
The possibility of Primark taking over Pavilions to create the UK flagship store in the city has added another layer of optimism in the retail sector.
“It is a really exciting time to be in Birmingham at the moment,” Nick said. “The past 10 years have seen huge changes in the city and the region’s property market.
“From very little new building development five years ago – despite the fact that demand was there – there is now a burst of activity.
“It doesn’t seem that long ago that we seemed to be on the edge of a cliff, heading only one way, but things have started to turn round.”
He said even though more people are buying goods online than ever before – with a 16% growth in internet retailing last year – the city has not lost its appetite for high street shopping.
“The latest figures show that retail sales are at their highest for years and are coming back stronger than ever,” he said.
“No one thought that the high street would be that resilient but the pace of development in the retail sector – as well as office and industrial sectors – in Birmingham over the next few years will be enormous.”
The work that is taking place on some of the 26 sites that make up the 1.3 million square metres of the Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone and £15 million funding announced earlier this year for developers is kickstarting another exciting chapter in Birmingham’s history, he continued.
And with commercial property investment by foreign companies – particularly Chinese consortia – beginning to spread towards the Midlands from London and the South East, Birmingham is looking to be an attractive city in which to do business.
In November last year, a Chinese consortium invested in the city, buying Quayside Tower on Broad Street. In February, another consortium from the Far Eastern country bought the Grade II listed 130 Colmore Row, while the China Railway Group has offered to finance a station on the HS2 development.
“In ten years’ time, Birmingham will be unrecognisable to what it is today and that is an exciting prospect for anyone who wants to live or work here, or invest and develop here,” said Nick.
Johnson Fellows is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Although known mainly for its retail agency work, it has established itself over the last three years as one of the region’s leading independent chartered surveying practices, adding building consultancy, industrial and logistics, valuation, professional, and property management to its portfolio. Earlier this year, it took over Solihull-based Salway Bradbury.