Curzon Park, Birmingham

Curzon Park is a development located in the Eastside area of Birmingham, England.

Location

Curzon Street bounds the north of the site, opposite which is Millennium Point and the site for the Eastside City Park development. A railway viaduct, leading to Birmingham New Street station, is located to the south. To the west is the disused Curzon Street railway station and opposite this is the site of the shelved Library of Birmingham scheme. To the east is the Curzon Gate development on the former Castle Cement site, which is currently under construction.

Curzon Park is located in a "blast zone" – a theoretical danger area that could be affected by an explosion or toxic leak from the MacDermid Canning facility that stores and manufactures chemicals in Digbeth which is near the site. Birmingham City Council stated they were confident the issue would be resolved.

The site is between 100 and 125 metres above Ordnance datum.

History

The demolition of the Parcel Force depot was completed in May 2006 with signs erected around the site saying: "Curzon Park. Land acquired for development." The site was transformed into a temporary, Tarmaced car park.

On November 24, 2006, it was announced that Curzon Park had been purchased from the Eastside Partnership by Grainger Trust PLC and Development Securities for £33.5 million. The gross development value is expected to be £350 million. [" [http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=37628208543155 Grainger, Development Securities buy Birmingham site for 33.5 mln stg] " - Hemscott] Under the Eastside Partnership, the development was to be phased over seven to eight years and would feature 790,000 sq ft (73,392 m²) of offices in eight buildings of between 35,000 sq ft and 170,000 sq ft (3,252-15,793 m²). The companies hope that, subject to the planning outcome, the construction will start in late 2007 or early 2008.

An outline planning application for the redevelopment of the site was submitted on July 27, 2007 to Birmingham City Council's Planning Department by CB Richard Ellis for Curzon Park Limited. A cheque payable to Birmingham City Council of £8,385 was enclosed within the planning application. The planning application was designated the application number 'C/04646/07/OUT' and was summarised on the city council's website as:

"Outline planning application (all matters reserved except for access) for a mixed-use development of up to 130,000m² (GEA) comprising offices (use class B1), residential (use class C3), Hotel (use class C1), retail (use classes A1, A2, A3, A4), medical centre (use class D1), and leisure use (use class D2) with associated car parking, servicing, and public realm."

The consultation period began when the planning application was registered on July 27 and ended on August 5, 2007. In accordance with the Town and Country Planning Order 1995 and Section 12 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the applicant, Curzon Park Limited, requested an extension to the time limit for the planning permission to ten years so that they can carry out a phased implementation of the development.

ite layout

According to the masterplan provided with the outline planning application, there will be fourteen buildings of varying sizes. To the west of the site, a road will lead off Curzon Street into the Curzon Park site. This will curve west towards the Curzon Gate development before crossing the Digbeth Branch Canal, which separates the two sites, to connect the two developments. Two roads lead off this street, one of which forms the south border to the site and remains underground. It goes beneath buildings two, three, four, five, and six and emerges at a junction with Banbury Street adjacent to Building One. The other road cuts through the centre of the site leading towards the rear of Curzon Street station. The buildings to the south of the development, overlooking the road will be named the Crescent. A new road is constructed joining this to Curzon Street and will pass between Building 12 and Building 13.

Buildings 13 and 14 are connected at the base, as is the same situation with Buildings 11 and 12, and Building 1 to 6. Plot Seven, housing buildings 7, 8, and 9, is an undecided plot. The planning application lists four options for the plot.

References

*Application number: "C/04646/07/OUT" at the Birmingham City Council Planning Department. Submitted 27/07/2007.

External links

* [http://www.savills.co.uk/offices/content.asp?content=uber%5Fcase%5Fstudies%5C6827%2Ehtm&contenttype=case%5Fstudy Savills entry]
* [http://www.comproperty.com/news/item.htm?pid=43 comproperty article]
* [http://www.hamilton-assoc.com/ Hamiltons Architects] (contains numerous renders and map)