The UK’s largest independent commercial property consultant and Birmingham’s leading property advisor, GVA, has been appointed to seek an occupier for the iconic hotel at Fort Dunlop.
Located in a prominent and accessible location just off the M6, Fort Dunlop is an award-winning, landmark mixed-use development.
Formerly the tyre factory and main office of Dunlop Rubber, Fort Dunlop was acquired by owner and developer Urban Splash in 1999. Following an extensive redevelopment, the building was converted to provide facilities for a range of uses, with 300,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and 45,000 sq ft of retail.
Combining historic status with new-build efficiency and award-winning, design-led architecture, Fort Dunlop offers an impressive list of existing tenants, including the Birmingham Post & Mail, Service Birmingham (Capita), Secretary of State and Ford.
Opened in 2006, the 100-bed hotel element occupies the striking, blue-clad 10-storey extension to the original building and is surrounded by landscaped areas to the front and rear.
Ben Brown Principal Surveyor at GVA’s Hotels and Leisure team, said: “Fort Dunlop is one of Birmingham’s most prestigious and widely recognised buildings and this opportunity offers the potential for huge exposure. While Urban Splash is primarily looking to re-let the hotel to a new operator, they are also willing to consider management contract proposals.”
“There are a considerable number of corporate occupiers in the immediate vicinity, as well as well-known and popular leisure attractions including Villa Park, Drayton Manor and The Belfry.”
As well as benefiting from the visibility of the property, its exposure to passing traffic and awareness of the Fort Dunlop brand, a new operator will also have the opportunity to work alongside Urban Splash to improve the quality of the product and optimise trading performance.
Nathan Cornish, Urban Splash, said: “The hotel element at Fort Dunlop represents an eye-catching addition to what is a national landmark. The availability of this space is an unrivalled opportunity for an ambitious hotelier to expose its brand to one of the busiest sections of motorway in the UK. We would be open to altering the striking blue render to link into the corporate colours of the operator taking the space”.
Fort Dunlop is located on the A47 Fort Parkway, which links Birmingham City Centre directly to the national motorway network. The city centre can be reached in ten minutes by car, with a Fort Dunlop double decker bus – complete with wi-fi – providing a shuttle service to and from the City Centre at peak hours.
Fort Dunlop is home to a range of occupiers, from structural engineers and building contractors to accountants, insurers and design consultancies.
Alongside the commercial and retail space, Fort Dunlop offers a wide selection of additional amenities, including on-site coffee and sandwich shops, a convenience store, children’s play area and nursery.