A derelict Birmingham cinema could be saved by an investor prepared to turn it into a flats and retail units.

The Kingsway has become a blot on Kings Heath High Street as it has lain empty for the last eight years and been wrecked by fire.

But the facade of the building, which dates from 1925, is still considered worth saving.

The Kingsway was built by Horace G. Bradley, who was responsible for several neo-classical cinemas in Birmingham.

It closed as a picture house in 1980 and reopened as a bingo hall a few years later. However, it has been left to go to wrack and ruin for the better part of a decade.

Occupying a prime position on the High Street, planning permission has been granted for its regeneration, which would see its Grade A local listed façade retained while the fire damaged structure at the back was demolished.

The refurbished building would include a shop on the ground floor with 14 two-bedroom apartments above.

The cinema has a guide price of £600,000 and is to be auctioned by CPBigwood on October 22 at Aston Villa’s Holte Suite.

It will be the agency’s biggest ever October auction with 103 lots. Among those set to excite interest among bidders is a former outdoor education centre in Bockleton Road, Tenbury Wells.

Comprising a Grade II listed hall, game keeper’s lodge and 21 acres of land, it is expected to attract offers of £1 million or more.

Birmingham City Council is selling a number of properties.

These include a Grade II Listed Victorian Park Keeper’s Lodge adjacent to Bournbrook Recreation Ground on Bristol Road, Selly Oak.

It was most recently used as a youth centre and offices.

A former community centre and car park in Winson Green Road is also to be sold.

Both have low guides of £100,000.

A former NHS Psychology Service Centre in Monyhull Hall Road, Kings Norton, has outline planning for six new dwellings. Alternatively, it could be retained for a number of alternative uses such as nursing/care home, residential multi-let conversion or even as a single impressive house. The guide price is £400,000-£425,000.

A number of pubs are also set to go under the hammer. The most local are the Manchester Inn, Bromsgrove Road, Romsley, near Halesowen, which has a guide in excess of £185,000, and the Swan Inn, Rugeley Road, Armitage, Staffordshire, which will be looking for bids of £120,000 or more.

A pre-auction sale has already been agreed on The Junction, a block of 43 apartments in Bilston Lane, Willenhall.

These have a current income of more than £227,000 a year, and the block was available for offers in excess of £2.5 million.

VIEWING INFORMATION

AGENT: CPBigwood

TEL: 0121 233 5046

WEB: www.cpbigwood.com