A 50-acre site in north Birmingham has been sold to the Government to house a new rail maintenance depot for HS2.

Birmingham-based regeneration specialist St Modwen has offloaded Heartlands Park in an undisclosed deal which it acquired in 2002.

The site, accommodating more than 880,000 sq ft of industrial accommodation, will continue to be run as a managed estate prior to commencing works on the proposed rolling stock maintenance depot.

This will serve phase one of the planned high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham which is due to open in 2026.

Heartlands Park, in Washwood Heath, was bought by St Modwen as part of the Alstom sale and leaseback transaction, whereby approximately 19 properties were acquired from the electronics company across 500 acres of land at several sites.

When Alstom surrendered its lease in 2012, St Modwen continued to lease the estate to a range of tenants including Network Rail.

Ian Romano, senior development surveyor for St Modwen, said: "Following the safeguarding of the site for the proposed depot, we have worked with HS2 to reach an agreement for this important UK infrastructure project.

"Since taking ownership of the site 15 years ago, we have transformed it from an under-let property into a thriving industrial estate with 15 tenants leasing over 800,000 sq ft of space.

"In line with our business strategy, we have concluded that no additional value can now be added to the asset and we will reinvest the proceeds from this transaction into new opportunities in the region."

Watch: Everything you need to know about HS2

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