£35 million work on a giant Broad Street tower can start after a funding deal was agreed.
Real estate investment firm Aprirose has made the Left Bank scheme to build a 22-storey apartment block its first major residential development project in the UK.
The Left Bank project will see 189 apartments built on the site where Regal Tower – which was supposed to be more than 150ft taller than the BT Tower – was once planned.
Manish Gudka, chief executive of Aprirose, said: "This will be our first large-scale residential development in the UK and securing this deal underlines the diversity of our investment strategies and our belief in Birmingham, which is undergoing a period of growth and regeneration.
"The Brexit vote has led to some schemes across the country being mothballed and investment in real estate stalling, however, we see this as a period of great opportunity.
"We are a stable, well-financed and mature company with strategies in place to invest in the right properties in the right locations and to continue to expand our £1 billion property portfolio.
"The HS2 rail link and £650 million redevelopment of Birmingham's Grand Central, as well as Arena Central and Paradise, will help to drive demand.
"There is currently a shortage of quality housing in the city centre and a strong appreciation of house prices so we see this as the perfect investment opportunity and a strong first step into larger residential schemes."
The Left Bank building forms part of wider plans from Regal Property Group which also includes an 18-storey, 180-bed, Innside hotel on the corner with Oozells Way.
The Left Bank scheme, located on the junction of Broad Street and Sheepcote Street, has been designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects and includes commercial space on the ground floor.
Work had been expected to begin last year but the scheme has been held up by an "impasse" over a condition the hotel had to be occupied before anyone could move into the appartment block next door.
That condition was removed – subject to yet more conditions – in March.
The scheme, to be delivered by Wates Construction, is located next to Brindleyplace and opposite another long-awaited regeneration spot.
It emerged last month the site of the old Tramps nightclub – which has lain derelict for 25 years – is set to become a lavish apartment block.
Sources claimed Moda Living wants to develop more than 200 homes at a plot.
