St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, has announced that its 55 acre ‘Heartlands Park’ site in Washwood Heath is now over 90% let – spearheading the effort to bring much-needed employment to this area of the city.
Since taking control of the former Alstom site at Washwood Heath in October this year, St. Modwen has worked hard to secure occupiers for the units on the site that has been identified by Birmingham City Council as a key employment area.
A range of businesses now operate out of Heartlands Park including white goods manufacturer Beko, leading Workplace Services Provider PHS and independent ports operator Port of Boston, bringing the total space let to tenants on the site to over 680,000 sq ft.
One of the main attractions of the site to potential occupiers is the fact that it is connected directly to the rail network, with several existing tenants already taking advantage of this rail connection.
Ian Romano of St. Modwen said: “The high level of take-up at Heartlands Park is proof that, despite the current economic slowdown, well located, well managed and well-priced space is still in good demand in the Midlands. The last remaining units and open storage facilities are now available and offer an ideal base for companies seeking space close to Birmingham and the motorway network.
“However, the threat of the HS2 rolling stock depot is still hanging over the long term development of the site and will jeopardise potentially thousands of jobs. We hope there will be a major re-think on the location for the depot.”
HS2 Ltd has yet to complete a full assessment of other locations for the rolling stock depot, although various suitable alternative sites have been identified that offer the operational benefits HS2 requires, but have none of the drawbacks, such as a net loss of jobs and the removal of increased employment opportunities.
St. Modwen fully supports the wider HS2 project because of the positive impact it will have on the local economy. However, under the current plans being considered, all employment land, situated in an economically deprived area of Birmingham which desperately needs jobs and investment, would be taken out by the proposed depot.