Birmingham City Council is to use its powers to solve a legal wrangle holding up development of a 40-storey tower on Broad Street.
Cabinet regeneration member Neville Summerfield has agreed to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order on land earmarked for a major mixed-use scheme, including a 192-bedroom hotel, up to 190 apartments, car parking, restaurants and cafes.
Richardson Cordwell won planning permission for the £100 million scheme two years ago but has been unable to acquire all of the site, on the south side of Broad Street opposite Sheepcote Street and the Brasshouse pub.
At about 400ft, the Broad Street Tower will be one of the city centre’s tallest buildings.
Council regeneration director Clive Dutton said a number of private leaseholders were still resisting the developer’s attempt to buy the land.
Failure to obtain a CPO would threaten the future of a major regeneration project, he said.
Mr Dutton said there was a compelling case in the public interest for the council to use CPO powers to acquire the site and added: “The successful redevelopment of this site is essential to achieve the ongoing regeneration and success of Broad Street and the International Convention Centre area.
“For many years, much of the site has been largely derelict although more recently the buildings have been cleared and the site used as a surface car park.
“The vacant site is at the very heart of Broad Street, creating an ugly space in the street, both visually and in terms of activity, at what is one of the busiest and most prominent parts of Broad Street.
“Implementation of the planning approval will deliver significant regeneration benefits through the proposed investment in new commercial facilities to fill the dead frontage and unattractive gap in the building line and provide new ground-floor activity to the street.
“The provision of a new hotel will deliver a number of economic and social benefits to the area creating a large number of full and part-time jobs, whilst increased numbers of hotel visitors will bring greater commercial activity that would benefit other businesses and provide greater capacity and choice to complement the ongoing success of the ICC.”
