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PGC – Prosperous Global China – has secured planning permission to flatten the former Renault car dealership site at 75-80 High Street and replace it with three residential blocks of 517 residential apartments in total.
The £60m development will include two 10-storey blocks and one of 25 storeys, to be built at the intersection of High Street and Clyde Street in Digbeth. The plans also include ground floor commercial units and parking for 153 cars.
It will be known as Lunar Rise, in recognition of the city's Lunar Society, a group of 19th century polymaths who used to meet in Birmingham on the Monday nearest to the full moon.
ISG is expected to start construction in mid-2018 and rely heavily on offsite construction and prefabricated modules. Corstorphine + Wright is architect for the scheme and PGC Capital has the role of development manager and client.
The property developer is headquartered in Shanghai and has offices in Birmingham and London. This is its second development in Birmingham.
Francis Cole, PGC Capital’s UK president, said: “This iconic development will be at the vanguard of Digbeth’s transformation and will establish a new 21st century look to the area. Birmingham City Council’s 25-year masterplan is one of the largest urban regeneration schemes in Britain and the city is leading the way with the huge redevelopment plan off the back of HS2. Digbeth is one of the areas set to benefit most, with new landscaped pedestrian routes through to the city centre, major transport hubs and a surge in investment. Digbeth’s strong community of creative & digital businesses, independent shops and cultural activities have a central role to play in Birmingham’s future. PGC Capital is focused on developing close working partnerships with local government to create developments that satisfy the needs of all the shareholders involved. We are also pleased to announce ISG as the preferred partner for delivery of our flagship scheme in Birmingham.”
ISG regional director Wayne Flannery added: “This major regeneration scheme is expected to act as the catalyst for further redevelopment in this strategic location to the east side of central Birmingham, which is close to the planned HS2 hub. With such a busy and logistically challenging site, it’s essential that we maximise efficiencies in the build programme to minimise the impact of the development during the construction phase. To achieve operational efficiency, much of the structure for the three cluster buildings will utilise off-site manufactured components, which are simply lifted off delivery wagons and craned into position. This gives us the quality, safety, speed and overall efficiency to deliver this major scheme far more quickly than traditional construction methods.”
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