A vacant office block adjoining Birmingham’s O2 Academy with planning permission to be transformed into an aparthotel is on the market.
Plans to transform St James House, which has lain vacant since 2003, into a 156-room aparthotel have been approved by Birmingham City Council, and a franchise agreement is in place for the aparthotel to be operated as a Residence Inn by Marriott.
The plans provide for a redevelopment of the site on Horse Fair into a 12-storey aparthotel. The prominent 1970s office building currently has a ground-floor entrance and six upper floors and the plans provide for retaining three floors, demolishing the rest and building nine new storeys.
Neil Inman and Phil Manson, of property management and surveying firm Scanlans, are disposing of St James House in their capacity as joint LPA receivers over the building. They have appointed BNP Paribas Real Estate to sell the site.
Neil said: “Since our appointment as LPA receivers, plans have been submitted and approved which significantly enhance the value of the site. St James House is in a great location on Horse Fair, part of the A38 Bristol Road and close to Birmingham’s central business district, and its transformation into an aparthotel will provide much-needed city centre accommodation for visitors to Birmingham.”
Simon Robinson and Mark Robinson, senior directors in the Birmingham office of BNP Paribas Real Estate, are running the sale process.
Simon said: “With planning consent secured for a 156-room aparthotel to be operated as a Residence Inn by Marriott, it’s an opportune time to bring the property to market. St James House is located in an exciting part of Birmingham where numerous development schemes are under way or planned, and we anticipate a great deal of interest from potential buyers.”
Pictured: The Residence Inn by Marriott - images courtesy of architects Cartwright Pickard
