[Citrus-Fruit]

Birmingham's going to be full of cranes next year. Im not joking either.

Development Securities and Grainger Trust acquire 10-acre Birmingham site

Development Securities and Grainger Trust are pleased to announce that they have jointly acquired the 10-acre Curzon Park site in Birmingham from the Eastside Partnership for £33.5 million.

Development Securities and Grainger Trust will fund the acquisition and subsequent development jointly, with initial contributions from the two companies’ existing resources.

The proposed 1.4 million sq ft mixed use development, with a gross development value of over £350 million, will comprise approximately 800,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, 400,000 sq ft of residential accommodation, a 180-bed hotel and 30,000 sq ft of retail space. It is intended that the joint venture will obtain planning consent, deliver infrastructure works to the value of £12 million and develop the site in several phases. Development Securities will project manage the planning, infrastructure and commercial phases with Grainger project managing the residential component.

Located within Birmingham’s Eastside, the proposed high-quality mixed use development of offices, together with residential, retail and leisure elements, will support Birmingham City Council’s aspirations for the site. It is anticipated that outline planning consent for Curzon Park should be obtained by summer 2007 and that construction will start on site in late 2007/early 2008. The overall development programme is expected to take up to eight years.

Commenting on the acquisition, Julian Barwick, Joint Managing Director, Development Securities, said:
“We are delighted to have acquired this key 10-acre site in the centre of Britain’s second city in partnership with Grainger. We are also looking forward to working jointly alongside Birmingham City Council on our proposals, which will deliver outstanding benefits for the local community.”

Richard Exley, Director of Development at Grainger, said:
“This acquisition enables us to meet our shared aspirations for our joint venture; to deliver large-scale, mixed-use schemes in first-rate locations. We anticipate furthering our partnership with Development Securities on similar schemes in the future.”