Twenty years on from the opening of Brindleyplace it seems hard to picture Birmingham without it.
The estate off Broad Street, home to the likes of Deutsche Bank, GVA, All Bar One and Ikon Gallery, was first opened to the public in 1995 after years of construction and even longer drumming up funding.
With the 20th anniversary of the opening of Brindleyplace approaching, the Post has created a picture gallery looking back at the evolution of a key corner of the city from Bingley Hall, to a vast, wasted expanse, to a thriving canalside development.
The regeneration of the estate, led by Argent, has gone on to create 10,000 jobs for people in bars, restaurants, offices and leisure facilities.
With work on Paradise Circus set to begin, the anniversary is a reminder of how development in Birmingham can pay off.
Argent paid £3 million for the land, which bordered the scene of a major fire at Bingley Hall years before, from receivers.
A matter of three years later, following some refinancing, the land value was back over £25 million in 1995.
In many ways the scheme reflected a changing Birmingham – land linked to the city’s industrial heritage, which suffered amid a decline in the 1970s, has been reborn.
One of the major highlights was last year when Deutsche Bank took over Five Brindleyplace to allow the banking giant to grow its workforce in the city to more than 2,000.
