Designs for one of Birmingham's tallest apartment blocks which will replace part of a much-maligned 1960s building have been unveiled.
Plans have now been lodged for the partial demolition and redevelopment of the Ringway Centre - the curved building spanning the length of Smallbrook Queensway - which include a 26-storey residential tower.
The project has not been far from the headlines in recent months after architect and Birmingham Post columnist Joe Holyoak likened the road to London's Regent Street when a public consultation was launched earlier this year.
And it emerged in July that campaign body Historic England had recommended to the Government the Ringway Centre, also known as the SBQ 1-4, be granted a Certificate of Immunity from Listing which would prevent it from being listed for five years.
Commercial Estates Group (CEG) has now submitted a planning application to Birmingham City Council (see CGIs above and below) which show how the new project is likely to look.
The section running from Holloway Circus island to Hurst Street, including the bridge, will be demolished and replaced with a part nine-storey and part 26-storey building containing 309 apartments, retail or leisure units on the ground floor and a basement car park.
The remaining section up to Debenhams will be renovated with an additional two storeys and a rear extension at first floor level and reclad in glass to form office space and ground-floor retail units.
There will also be basement parking but Snobs nightclub will be unaffected by the project.
During construction, around 500 jobs will be created and a net additional 600 jobs in the wider region and the development is expected to generate around £25 million in GVA for the local economy, according to CEG.
The new office, leisure and retail space will provide employment space for around 1,100 staff.
CEG's development manager Iain MacSween said: "Smallbrook Queensway is ideally positioned to benefit from investment into comprehensive regeneration.
"The current SBQ buildings are well past their prime and have a negative impact on the character, appearance and environmental quality of Smallbrook Queensway.
"They are out-dated, energy inefficient and unsustainable and do not meet the needs for modern occupiers.
"Birmingham is competing with major cities across the UK and the world to attract quality occupiers and the site offers a unique opportunity to regenerate this prominent location, creating new job opportunities, homes, retail and leisure.
"We can also open up Hurst Street views, with an iconic landmark building offering."
The 26-storey apartment block would rival for size similar residential developments at the Beorma Quarter in Digbeth, former V-building site in Suffolk Street Queensway and Left Bank in Broad Street - all of which should be finished in the next couple of years.
Ringway Centre was completed in 1962 and designed by James Roberts, the same architect behind Rotunda in New Street.
Campaign group Brutiful Birmingham Action Group has previously said it is keen to see the retention of the city's 1960s architecture and wants to work with developers on future projects.
Mr Holyoak said: "It's very disappointing news that the Certificate of Immunity has been granted.
"I wish the campaign group good luck in working with developers on projects and exerting some influence but there isn't a great record of success in that.
"The design is enormous and contravenes the city council's own tall buildings planning policy for that area.
"However, it is just a policy and not legally binding and in so many cases the planning committee ignores its own policy anyway."
