Concord set to fly again

One of Birmingham’s “ugly duckling” buildings is set to re-emerge as a modern, iconic development after a £10 million renovation and reconstruction project.

And developer Steve Dodd of Elevate Property Group has pledged to produce “Birmingham’s most desirable apartment scheme to come to the market in 2015”.

“Against the flow of ever smaller city flats, Concord House is going to give purchasers what many of them now seek, which is conveniently located big apartments,” he said.

The conversion of Concord House, a derelict former warehouse on Holloway Head, into 37,000 sq ft of residential apartments and 7,000 sq ft of commercial space, has been approved by Birmingham planners.

The five storey building will become seven storeys when the top floor penthouses are constructed and will feature some of Birmingham’s largest apartments.

Steve Dodd said: “Concord House is the former Debenhams furniture warehouse occupying the corner of Holloway Head and Marshall Street which was built in the 1930s. What we have here is currently an ugly duckling in an area that is crying out for redevelopment with some imagination. Extensive refurbishments will re-engineer the building providing modern living spaces with a sophisticated industrial aesthetic.”

Birmingham-based project architects D5 worked on the Concord House project to produce a contemporary development of 15 loft style apartments and four luxury penthouses with extensive roof terraces looking over the city. D5 partner Ian Saunders said:

“We feel it is better to engage with the public and produce a design that engenders a reaction,  rather than something anodyne that nobody notices. Often you will receive 100 positive comments and one negative one – that is the nature of people’s subjective reaction to design. We had great support from the design professionals within Birmingham City Council in the evolution of the scheme through pre-application consultation  and we have followed good architectural tenets in producing a design that responds to the rhythm and form of the existing building, creating something that is harmonious but also contemporary and new to reimagine the whole.”

Steve Dodd said the interior would feature exposed steel and brickwork with polished concrete, giving in places a raw appearance but in a modern context. Concord House is located adjacent to The Cube and The Mailbox and is only five minutes walk from stunning re-creation of New Street Station which has the new John Lewis store as its anchor tenant.

“The Cube has the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill and The Mailbox currently has Harvey Nichols as its founder tenant, and with a £50 million refurbishment currently underway, is rumoured to have attracted even more prestigious national names. Factor in all the canalside bars and entertainment venues in the nearby area and you can already see the current wave of renovation rippling through the area.

Joint agents on the scheme are Knight Frank and Maguire Jackson.

Philip Jackson of Maguire Jackson said: “Loft apartments are increasingly sought after in the city centre, and this is a fantastic opportunity to use your imagination and look forward a year to when The Mailbox reopens and the whole character of this area starts to lift. there is a window of opportunity here for purchasers to acquire an authentic loft apartment in a fast improving area. The 15 loft style apartments, and in particular the four luxury penthouses, are set to be one of the talking points among the city’s business and professional sector as the scheme unfolds. This is the kind of visionary development that Birmingham needs to restore its reputation as a city of flair and imagination.”

The apartments will range in size from 1,050 sq ft to 2,750 sq ft, with the penthouses from 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft in size, and from £275,000 to £675,000 for the apartments with the penthouses available “price on application”.

The flagship penthouse will provide over 4,000 sq ft with a cantilevered structure and three roof top terraces plus garaging for four vehicles. Now that planning approval has been granted, apartments at Concord House will be available from spring 2015 with completion of the entire project scheduled for summer that year.