Work is due to begin on the athletes’ village in Birmingham as the city prepares for the Commonwealth Games, with the site set to become housing following the event in 2022.
Plans for the conversion of the site of the former Birmingham City University campus in Perry Barr were approved just before Christmas 2018, with work on the £165m project set to start this month.
The village will be located close to the Alexander Stadium, which will also be rebuilt to accommodate 40,000 fans as the centrepiece of the event which will run from 27 July to 7 August 2022. The stadium will be remodelled afterwards to leave a modern athletics stadium with a capacity of 25,000.
1,100+ new homes
Around 6,500 athletes and Games staff will occupy the village for the Games, but the city will benefit in the long term with the site set to offer 1,146 new homes after the event. A further 268 homes will form a care village for older residents, there will be a community centre and over 13,000 square feet of commercial space.
Accommodation will range from one to four-bedrooms in 11 buildings between two and 15 storeys. Plenty of green space will also be included in the 24-acre site, with the project providing what Birmingham City Council call “…much-needed well-designed new homes, high-quality informal and formal public open space as part of a sustainable urban development.”
Lendlease, who were a development partner for London 2012, have been appointed as principal contractor for the project. Local transport is also set to benefit from the Games, with Perry Barr’s railway station set to be rebuilt.
Project heralds exciting times for ‘second city’
Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Since we announced our intention to bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, I’ve always said the event is about so much more than just 11 days of sport.
“The regeneration of Perry Barr will be the most tangible and transformative legacy we achieve as a result of hosting the Games, bringing investment and regeneration to area that has long been crying out for it.”
It’s an exciting time for Birmingham, which PwC describe as ‘Britain’s most investable city’. The HS2 rail link is to be built in the coming years, and large employers like HSBC and Deutsche Bank have moved to the city.
Its large student population, together with a growing workforce needing somewhere to live during big projects like HS2 and the Commonwealth Games, mean rental demand in Birmingham is growing. Under 25s form around 40% of Birmingham’s population, making it the youngest city in Europe.
