Martineau Galleries is the name given to a 5.5 hectare site between Corporation Street, Masshouse, High Street, Moor Street Queensway and Priory Queensway. Up to 266,000 sq m (2.9 million sq ft) of mixed use space is planned, including 85,000 sq m (915,000 sq ft) of retail together with offices, leisure, residential and cultural space. There will be underground car parking for 2,500 cars, an increase of 900 over the existing 1,600 spaces currently on the site.

When finished, Martineau Galleries will be in a pivotal position, neighbouring the Masshouse development, currently under construction, City Parkgate and the city’s new educational quarter including a proposed new 1 million sq ft technology park, in Eastside.

True to the Birmingham Alliance’s other schemes, Martineau Galleries will be designed to the highest specification and landscaped to include airy, open streets and squares, public spaces and public art, which have been so popular at Bullring.

With up to 834 apartments of different sizes and styles, together with offices, the area will come alive as more people move to live and work in the vicinity. There will be an diverse mix of shops, with a likely combination of national and independent retailers and it is anticipated there will be a focus for good quality gastro bars and eateries, bringing a new evening economy to this area of the city.

It is also hoped that a new cultural venue will be incorporated at Martineau Galleries, details of which are to be confirmed but which could take the form of a gallery, museum, design centre or exhibition space.

Birmingham is a major city with a potential catchment population of 4.3 million living within a 40 minute drive time of the city centre, representing a far reaching audience. Visitors to a city with the magnitude of Birmingham expect to find represented a wide range of international, national and local retailers, thus the greater the variety of retailers represented the greater the attraction to shoppers and the greater the draw to the city. This scheme will extend Birmingham’s city centre giving it an even stronger identity.

In terms of job creation, in the region of 2,000 construction jobs will be created by the scheme and as many as 6,000 jobs once it is completed and open. At the appropriate time the Birmingham Alliance will consider a joint initiative with the Learning and Skills Council and other appropriate organisations, to maximise take up of employment opportunities by local people.

Having been granted planning consent the Birmingham Alliance has since confirmed the Section 106 agreement with Birmingham City Council. The professional team is now working on the detail of the scheme but redevelopment is not anticipated to commence until 2009.

Please contact:

Bob de Barr or Helen Rainsford

Land Securities
Tel: 0207 413 9000