CGI of Lumina
CGI of Lumina

The head of the developer behind the Lumina office development in Birmingham city centre says he hopes to start construction work within the next 12 to 18 months.

In addition, James Howarth, managing director of Sterling Property Ventures, said he wanted to lodge plans for the Great Charles Square project in the Jewellery Quarter this summer.

Sterling is currently behind three key regeneration schemes in Birmingham - Lumina in Snow Hill Queensway, Great Charles Square in Ludgate Hill and 103 Colmore Row.

Mr Howarth told the Post: "Lumina has planning, it is being marketed and it's an exciting project which is ready to go.

"Our funders require an element of pre-let, not necessarily a significant one, but we would like to see some commitment from the occupational market to the building.

"I would like to think that within the next 12 to 18 months we would be on site."

Lumina received the green light from city planners a year ago and would be built on vacant land between the head office of West Midlands Police and the Holiday Inn Express.

It will contain around 160,000 sq ft of grade A office space over 12 floors - although consent was granted for a 240,000 sq ft building - and sit in the heart of the Colmore business district.

The Great Charles Square site is currently a run-down city council car park between Ludgate Hill and Livery Street and could house 500,000 sq ft of office, retail and residential accommodation, developed in tandem with the council.

Mr Howarth told the Post: "We are in constant dialogue with the local authority about the form and design of that site for a mixed use of residential and office space.

"We are in the throes of agreeing with the urban designers the form and we would look to have an application lodge for it during the summer."

Mr Howarth described the plot as a "bomb site" in 2013 but said there was a "real ground swell of support" for the project.

Last week, Sterling launched the public consultation on its plan to demolish 103 Colmore Row, better known as NatWest Tower, and build a 26-storey replacement.

The project to replace the tower, which was been vacant since 2003, encountered its latest hurdle just two days later when Birmingham City Council denied planning permission for the demolition.