Have you any data or links on the numbers you mention of young professionals in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area that earn salaries of £20k+?


I've no data on the jobs for this group, I wasn't basing my thoughts on job figures more my personal expereinces of living / working in Birmingham. The seemingly logical argument that the macroeconmic jobs market affects the demand for city living market is too simplistic which i think is partly the point you are making. All other things being equal it will have an effect of course but there are far greater trends currently affecting demand, most of all the dramatic collapse of over inflated property prices in the city centre.

Because of this I dont see jobs as constraing the market for city appartments largely because there is a pent up demand for the city living lifestyle amougst young professionals who are currently renting / living with family in the suburbs. I am happy to acknowledge that this view is built upon a certain element of speculation but also from first hand knoweldge and experience of having gone through the process of buying and having a peer group who are doing the same things any weighing up the same cost benefits of city living.


My impression, formed without any solid data, is that the market for graduates in Birmingham in any industry, never mind wealth creating industries where highly skilled talent needs to be recruited into, is stagnating and the market is haemorraging losses quickly. With tax incentives not in place to attract younger people into self-employment I'm not hearing too many positive stories about jobs or start-ups at the moment.

Perhaps someone might have data on the jobs front, and also perhaps a good indicator would be the level of office space take up in A and B grade office space in the city at the moment? Even in Fort Dunlop, as the office rental space appears to be quite reasonably priced, I'm wondering what the take-up currently is. Might do some investigating myself later on.

Office take up figures for Birmingham i can give - and they are rather surprising and i would hope highlight my point that the macroeconmic picture is not what is driving the trend. The take up of office spcae in 2009 was virtually identical to figures in 2007 after a big boom in 2008. Can't find the corresponding figures for 2005 & 2006 but these were pretty bad years for commercial property in Brum and were substantialy less than those for 2007,8 or 9

Figures are from Property Week (http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3155752)


Birmingham’s office market saw take-up of 657,280 sq ft in 2009 – down from record levels in 2008 but similar to 2007’s figures.

In 2008, 959,317 sq ft was let in the city and in 2007, 662,207 sq ft, according to statistics compiled by the Birmingham Office Market Forum

there is a young peoples census book thing on the council website, that has some of the data i think...

is there an official website for the bst?

im sure google will give you that answer but i doubt it

ohh then there isnt one then because ive been looking on google for it

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/press-releases/broad-st-demolition030909.html

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/downloads/broad-street-tower.pdf

thanks for that :)
whats that 2nd link? it looks like someone has made that page

I think you'll find every page on the internet has been created by someone. :)

The second link is a pdf document. It's a digital version of a leaflet or book - they're everywhere on the internet, surprised you haven't seen one before.

PDF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format) is pretty much the standard for portable documents.

Here is a list of PDF viewers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDF_software#Viewers_5), I guess your on windows as almost all other OS have PDF viewers as standard. Do not use Adobe Reader, it's buggy, bloated and insecure, especially with plenty of zero day bugs in he wild.

im not lol i dont really know much :)

THUD!!!

Application Number: 2011/06063/PA
Application Type: Extend Time to Implement
Site Address: 212-223 Broad Street Birmingham B15 1AY
Proposal: Application to replace an extant planning permission 2006/04149/PA in order to extend the time limit for implementation for the "redevelopment of site to provide a multi storey building with ground floor A1/A2/A3/A4/C1 & D2 uses, podium car parking, 342 residential apartments" .
Planning Officer: Joanne Todd
Area Team: P & R - City Centre Team
http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=549588&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/BirminghamNew/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/BirminghamNew/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

Anybody got any idea whether that's good or bad news? I get a bit confused by the minutiae of planning and the tactics used by developers.

I'm assuming bad in that they may just be holding on to a site which is potentially more valuable thanks to its planning permission until somebody wants to buy it?

It could mean that, but it could also mean that the developers are still interested and are working to get this out of the ground - although I would have expected some design changes by now if this were the case...

Josh...calm down and breathe.......

^^:lol:

Lets hope this materialises.

Josh...calm down and breathe.......

If there was a "like" button, i would have just "liked" that comment!

I was under the impression that this was going to be a hotel .I didn't realise it was residential .

well its a 9 storey hotel and 25 storey apartments.... if built in that form lol

Planning Applications in respect of the City Centre Area
Report No 13 - 212-223 Broad Street - 2011/06063/PA

The Area Planning Manager (Central) reported that in paragraph 7.1 there was
an error whereby the application should read “2011/06063/PA” and not
“2011/05073/PA”. It was also reported that in clauses 8.2 and 8.4 the date,
should read “12 December 2011” and not “9 December 2011”.

Councillor Beauchamp indicated that this site had been lying idle for a
considerable period of time and the sooner the development was commenced
the better. He stressed that the site was an eyesore and he welcomed the
development.

8414 RESOLVED:-
(A) That consideration of application 2011/06063/PA be deferred
pending the completion of a Section 106 planning obligation to
secure a financial contribution of £1 million (index linked to
construction prices from the date of the resolution) to grant
planning permission toward the following:-

(i) £150,000 for the Broad Street Business Improvement
District;
(ii) £440,000 for public realm/open space improvements in the
vicinity, including adjoining streets and the Peace Garden;
(iii) £400,000 for public transport improvements; and
(iv) £10,000 for shop mobility.
Planning Committee – 1 December 2011
909
(B) That, in the absence of the planning obligation being completed
to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority by 12
December 2011, planning permission be refused for the
following reasons:
(i) In the absence of a legal agreement to secure a financial
contribution for public realm and open space
improvements, the proposed development conflicts with
Policy 5.20C of the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan
2005; and
(ii) In the absence of a legal agreement to secure a financial
contribution for public transport improvements, the
proposed development conflicts with policy 6.20A of the
Birmingham Unitary Development Plan 2005.
(C) That the Director of Legal and Democratic Services be
authorised to prepare, seal and complete the planning
obligation.

(D) That, in the event of the Planning Obligation being completed to
the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority by 12 December
2011, favourable consideration be given to this application,
subject to the conditions set out in the report.

-----------------------

Wonder if they signed the 106 in time.

If so they cant drag their heels to much longer surely.
_______________________________________________________________

of course they can, until the planning application expires again and they renew the consent....

Richardsons aren't to far of completing their £75m development in Worcester.

Reading the report it seems as if the planning committee have become a bit frustrated with the delay.

Hopefully we may see some progress as i'm sure it will be in some of the renewed conditions.

well yes they probably are frustrated, but look at similar reports with regard to arena central and youll see similar frustration.... that said, they can be as frustrated as they want, it doesnt change anything

Very true.

However there were a huge amount of ammendments to be made to allow for the 106 section agreement to be put in place regarding 2006 application.

It seems over the last 5 years Richardsons have adhered to these some what.

So many proposals for Broad Street have come and gone. On paper by now the street should be one of the best in Europe with the Times Square style advertisment boards, the walk of stars, lighting concepts, highrise buildings, new public squares, pedestrian access etc ...

we can live in hope something kicks off sooner rather than later :cheers:

So is this good or bad news? Or is it basically the same?

So many proposals for Broad Street have come and gone. On paper by now the street should be one of the best in Europe with the Times Square style advertisment boards, the walk of stars, lighting concepts, highrise buildings, new public squares, pedestrian access etc ...


Don't forget the trams running down it!

So is this good or bad news? Or is it basically the same?

Basically the same Josh.

Nothing will happen for years yet, same as Arena Central, but it adds a good line of potential value into the accounts....he says cynically!

As previously said Josh. Richardsons had to amend numerous conditions to receive a 106 notice.

They have done so which means it's progressing. At what pace nobody knows.

Also i'd expect nothing to happen until they have finished their Worcester development anyway.

I do however see this moving.

And I expect to see some kind of activity on site by 2013. That's what every report seems to indicate.

so when is the one in worcester finishing? do we have a thread for it?

I believe Ant & Dec are opening the Worcester scheme late this year.

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/worcester/june_11_c.jpg

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/worcester/june_11_a.jpg

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/press-releases/worcester/bbc_8.jpg

http://www.richardsons.co.uk/press-releases/worcester/bbc_9.jpg

what is it going to be? and why carnt they do that and this at the same time?

Its a shopping complex.

Back on topic.

I suspect Richardsons may be looking for an upturn turn in residential lettings in the city.

The fact they haven't ammended the planning app. with a change of uses suggest they feel they will proceed with apartments.

or, as the site is currently up for sale, their current planning permissions is enough to inclrease the value of the land so tyhey dont need to spend/waste money putting in an ammendined application

what is it going to be? and why carnt they do that and this at the same time?

Probably funding josh I should imagine.