A major new project in Coventry’s creative quarter is due to begin this week.
Complex Development Projects (CDP) and Advantage West Midlands have announced that construction has started on a new speculative office building as part of the Far Gosford Street Regeneration Initiative (Fargo).
The new Scala office will bring around 50 new jobs to the area and is already attracting interest from businesses in the IT and creative sectors.
The building will complete the trio of projects making up the £3.5 million first phase of the Fargo initiative which is seeing one Coventry’s most historic areas transformed into a vibrant cultural quarter and centre for creative enterprises.
The Scala building, designed by city-based architects IDP and Birmingham- based PCPT, will feature up to six office units in the three-storey building. The development is being built on the site of the former Scala cinema at the entrance to the public car-park.
Restoration of the adjoining Hand and Heart pub and the timber framed 121-124 were completed at the end of 2009 and the Scala office is the final part of this phase. The other buildings are already almost fully occupied.
Ian Harrabin, managing director of CDP, made the announcement of the Scala building at the MIPIM commercial property show in France.
He said: “We’ve designed the building in an arts and crafts style to reflect the era of the cinema which was demolished in the 1960s.
“It’s a key site as it is right in the heart of the area and helps repair past damage to the street.
“We decided to get on with it despite the financial climate as demand in the street has meant that we have no space left to offer. Businesses really seem to like the creative vibe and proximity to the university.
“We think this is one of the only – if not the only – speculative office building currently underway in the West Midlands. That says a lot about our confidence in the area and the strength of the partnership with the city and AWM.”
Advantage West Midlands has invested more than £3 million in the scheme in purchasing the industrial estate and helping with property restoration costs. It is also working with partners to assist in the delivery of future phases.
Stuart Kirkwood, Development Director at Advantage West Midlands, said: “The redevelopment of Coventry city centre is one of the Agency’s top 20 priorities in the region, and Far Gosford Street is a key component of that.
“There has been a massive amount of work going on behind the scenes but recent developments have provided real evidence for local people of the way the environment is being enhanced and the Scala building will continue that process.”
Advantage West Midlands, Coventry City Council, and CDP are working in partnership on the Far Gosford Street project which will see several new office developments on surplus land, a hotel near the Sky Blue Way roundabout, accommodation for digital, media and creative businesses, the restoration of historic buildings and the re-use of an old industrial estate as a vibrant festival marketplace.
Councillor Ken Taylor, leader of Coventry City Council, said: “The transformation of Far Gosford Street is moving forward apace and it is very good news that the Scala building will follow hot on the heels of the two other restorations which are already bringing new life to this area of the city.
“Attracting new businesses to the area, many of which will be new or young enterprises, is key to the success of the project and the Scala building will play a big part in that.”
Meanwhile, Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, told a MIPIM audience that European cities and regions should use the recession to radically rethink how they attract inward investment.
Around 70 international city and regional representatives attended a major seminar chaired by Mr Reeves which focused on how the downturn has affected levels and patterns of investment.
He said: “These are very testing times but I am very confident that as the economy improves, many things will have to be done very differently and that includes inward investment… we have to rip up the text book of how things were done before because the world is economically a very different place.”
Reeves was joined at the session by Peter Lemagnen, the managing director of Oxford Intelligence which supplies information and consulting to international businesses and government agencies, and Marc Lhermitte, a partner at Ernst and Young based in France, who leads the Economic Development practice unit ILAS of the company.
The event was held in the Team West Midlands Business Suite and the speakers were introduced by Advantage West Midlands chief executive Mick Laverty.