A £20million residential development in Birmingham which ground to a halt after the dramatic collapse of a Midland construction firm has been rescued.
Birmingham Properties Group has been appointed to take over the development of the Axis scheme in Harborne High Street.
The half-completed construction site was the biggest casualty when Chase Midland went into administration.
It comprises 94 apartments and has been on hold since July, while administrators Deloitte considered a range of options.
The high-profile scheme will be rebranded and relaunched in the middle of next year, with construction work expected to be completed in mid-2010.
BPG managing director John Tebbutt said: “It was a very sad moment for the whole of the West Midland property market when Chase Homes and its Harborne Apartments subsidiary went into administration this summer. By far the largest of Chase’s live development sites was Axis in Harborne High Street.
“Situated in the middle of what could easily be regarded as Birmingham’s best suburban high street, it was crucial that the half-completed construction site was rescued as soon as possible. Our decision to develop the site was not taken lightly as there is nothing more complex than inheriting a large half-finished construction site. However, the potential of the scheme is clear.
“Harborne is a highly sought-after suburban village. With its prominent professional, media and medical community, we are confident that demand for this scheme will be at a healthy level when it is ready to be re-launched next year.”
BPG says it will continue to employ Axis’s site manager, who has overseen work on the site since autumn 2006.
The development site, which is bounded by Harborne High Street, Greenfield Road and Vivian Road, consists of two blocks of apartments, each with its own communal courtyard.
There are 130 parking spaces in the basement, allowing for nearly two spaces per dwelling – assuming BPG’s plan to create 17 townhouses instead of the apartments originally intended is cleared.
BPG says that with virtually no other new build projects in the area, a “high generous” allocation of parking spaces is likely to be a strong selling point when the properties come onto the market.
The company, which was established more than 30 years ago, earlier this year acquired 1 St Paul’s Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, site of the famous Jam House.
More than 150 jobs were lost in July with the collapse of Chase Midland, which included Chase Norton Construction, Chase Homes (Eastern) and the £20million Harborne scheme.
