Is it about time the Council started to sort this mess out...
Now that New Street and the Library are being renovated/demolished, surely this is the largest blot on the landscape in the city centre.
Broad Street is on it's last legs, Brindley Place is still surviving but as an island amid the drabness and run down properties along that route, even the ICC and NIA are looking tired and grey.
Also with the revised height limit for Regal of 200 metres, surely any prospective developer could now look at building higher than the 187 metre limit. People may argue that the failings of buildings such as Beetham have contributed to a perceived lack of interest from the public in high rise living, but when I viewed an apartment in Beetham there was no parking with it, and the apartments were tiny.
Oh man, how disappointing. I had hoped that they would hold onto the site a bit longer to see the market take more of an upturn before throwing another proposal into the mix. Design-wise, the plan of it is good. The apartment plans seem a little cramped though (and single aspect as well, not a fan of those). The external treatment leaves a lot to be desired, in that it's mediocre at best although some well-considered and quality materials would definitely do it favours.
I wasn't aware that Alpha Tower was now a listed building (yay!) and that could have some impact on the design of this, but not much. Also VerticallyChallenged: English Heritage have the power to designate the listed building status, not BCC.
Regarding what the developer said, my experience of developers of high-density resi schemes over the past year is to blame either the local authority or local residents for not being more ambitious.
I personally don't see this proposal being built in its presented form. But I don't know if that's an informed hunch or sheer hope.
I can't see this ever happening its one of those wacky proposals that never happen. But i would like to see the bank as an entrance hall to a world class museum building built at the back.
I asked a BCC councillor this a couple of years ago. They are in no rush to get them knocked down, as ITV are still paying council tax on the property on the most expensive piece of land in the region.
seriously people, we need to keep to topic here...
this is the Vtower site thread. We have a sperate Arena Central thread, and we have a seperate Holiday in express thread. can you please keep to topic!
The "V Building" could have been such an amazing tower for Birmingham, and it's a real shame that it will not be going forward. It is said that the downscaling of development on the site is justified by a claimed desire to have the existing Alpha Tower as the landmark building for Arena Central, and the fact that demand for city centre property in Birmingham has collapsed when compared to the heady days of 2007.
In the boom years we had a lot of ambitious PROPOSALS, but how many actually came to something more?
Since the recession and even during what we have had proposed may not be as ambitious, but the turn around from planning app to construction has been much higher
I do think the ambitious projects will return in the next 2-3 years and this time I think the proposals will be more serious and backed by bigger investors and they will get built
^^
A whole government department is relocating to Brum in the next two years, there is also a massive investment in the medical quarter in Edgbaston, these alone are bringing thousands of well paid jobs to Birmingham. High end quality apartments as proposed with the V building would sell better now than when V was originally brought to the table!
So they say. But if that's the case why Are Dandara looking at investing another £100m at the other Arena Central residential sites?? :lol:
They are full of shit and their name is stained IMO. They are a company that will produce generic shit that for a quick buck that will blot any city they build.. It'll be the cities they build in that will have the burden of tearing this crap down in the future too. It'll have no longetivity at all.
The council having qualms about nothing being taller or imposing on the Alpha Tower is also a massive lie. If it isn't then the council is the liar and that itself, would actually be the only thing worse than what Dandara have proposed.
During the boom years we didn't have talks of a huge government department or a huge new medical research quarter setting up here bringing thousands of jobs let alone confirmed
I understand what your saying about the apartments being better suited now more than ever but once the two developments above are complete investors and developers will look at it and build
It's become a case of build once they're here rather than build and they will come
My point is that since the recession we've seen more proposals come to fruition than before,
Resortsworld was talked about for years during the boom, but nothing ever really happened, once the recession hit the project suddenly moved forward, it proves there is confidence in the city
We've seen huge expansions for all of our universities since the recession
NIA refurbishment
Multiple hotels
Wholesale markets, arena central and paradise circus finally moving forward
John Lewis, grand central and mailbox overhaul as well as huge investments in bullring
It's all investment in the city when things are tough, the big projects like V will return in the future
There is a bit of both going on from what i can see. Developers as you say do not want to sit on stock. So they won't be building and waiting for them to come.
The recession also means people (as in the ones buying) are far more "picky" about what they are buying. We aren't so easy to part with our cash for a tiny shoebox apartment or house as we were in the boom when in most cases, a shoebox apartment was a stepping stone to something else longer term.
This does two things... It means people won't buy and developers don't buy land or build. However land values in the city centre particularly, are still very high.
So in order to mitigate all of this, the flats need to be better to get people to part with their money. This costs lots more money for the developer but the return on the flat sale isn't much more higher than the recession (this is more so for apartments than housing). Hence we get proposals like AC/V /Tower.
When the sale value increases again to the point where you can sell a shoebox apartment for 300k, you will see V towers proposed all over.
Houses are booming loads cheaper due to land values in greenfield being lower and cheaper to build hence loads of houses being built.
Don't mean to be rude but the average price of a property nationwide is now £2,300 more than what it was when V Tower was proposed in 2007 aka the "boom".
What Dandara are building for now and wanting to do so quickly is these prices will level out 2017/18.
The reason why property prices are rising is because people are wanting to part with their cash.
I went to an auction the other night and the property within a minute from starting bid had risen well over £70k of it's original asking price and in the end sold for almost double.
People are swapping and changing furiously at the moment and prices regionally will continue to rise, especially in cities like Manchester and Birmingham.
Flats can in fact be less now and will gain more for 3/4 years more.
I think they are though. Bouygues, Seven Capital, Dandara and now Nikal are all investing tens of millions of pounds into new residential schemes which were either non-existant or dead in the water.
I also wouldn't be surprised if Snow Hill 3 is completely changed again to reincorporate a residential element as we've yet to see a detailed app for the office scheme after nearly 18 months.
There is an upward trend of course as you point out and the developers are putting in applications but are yet to build anything bar Seven Capital but they are converting offices to resi which is significantly less risk and less expensive. I'm not aware of anything Bouygues have built out yet.
Dandara are quite clear that they have someone investing or buying the building as soon as it is built or permission is granted (no sure which way round it is). The now is less of a gamble than the a trend of future increase. In order to make the value now, the building is built cheaply.
I feel they are investing a level of money where a return is achievable now. If the scheme doesn't get off the ground for whatever reason expect them to look at it again and change the design.
They have yet to build anything as they are only on the cusp of a new wave. However, that does not take away the fact that these developers are now buying, and developing applications for these sites.
Bouygues Development arm are massive and are building out a huge number of sites across the country normally in JV's just like Pershore Street is with Hallmark although majority owned by BD. They are also investing heavily in a student scheme near Bath Court.
Dandara are building now because there is a market, same as Nikal and a reason why they are now moving Masshouse to residential led.
The housing market is really picking up ahead of steam and the original discussion was the value of properties being developed would offer the same if not better return than they would've done in 2007 so that is no excuse for V Tower to be so downgraded.
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