NEC.City: Birmingham's New 420 Acre, 3.3M SF Business District
Birmingham's NEC is to become the focus for a new out-of-town office district.
The exhibition centre campus will be rebranded NEC.City which will cover 420 acres and include 3.3M SF of new commercial floorspace.
That is the future envisaged for the site in a new masterplan to be considered by city council leaders on 13 November.
Birmingham City Council sold the NEC to LDC in 2015. The ink is still drying on LDC's £800M sale of the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre to Blackstone, agreed in October. However, the city council have retained the freehold.
The masterplan identifies the potential to redevelop 180 acres of brownfield land creating 3.3M SF of new floorspace, 10,000 new jobs and up to 2,000 new apartments.
"The scale of the opportunity means that development will be phased over a number of years," a report to councillors said. "This allows for the detail of development to react to market conditions (particularly the impact of HS2) and also for development to be released on a phased basis. Early phases of the development over the next five years could include the film studio, initial phases of residential development and infrastructure improvements including the realignment of Pendigo Way to release development opportunities."
Documents presented to councillors envisage a rapid transit loop connecting across destinations within the site and to the wider transport offer, a Metro stop, a new lakeside leisure destination and a redesigned piazza entrance flanked by a major hotel.
