Knight Frank has been appointed by Oval Real Estate as leasing advisor on The Digbeth Estate, a 40-acre mixed-use regeneration scheme located in the heart of Birmingham.
Formerly known as Birmingham’s industrial heartland, The Digbeth Estate is undergoing a continued transformation to become a cultural and creative hub with the introduction of new public realm, leisure and residential space, offices, and TV studio. The project aims to retain the unique fabric of the area to create a sustainable living and working hub in central Birmingham.
Knight Frank’s appointment follows the redevelopment of The Bond, a former HP Sauce factory and Ice House offering 40,000 sq ft of commercial space for film, media and tech businesses. The Bond also offers venue hire, screening and pod rooms, a canal-side studio and wharf. The Bond will benefit from strong ESG credentials, some including water-saving appliances, air-source heat pumps and electric car charging stations.
In addition to the above redevelopment, Oval expects to finish the refurbishment of the Floodgate Factories along Floodgate Street, creating 5 modern industrial workspaces which is set for completion next month.
Will Higgins, Senior Surveyor at Knight Frank Birmingham Office Agency, comments: “The exciting regeneration of this historic area of central Birmingham provides flexible commercial space for creative businesses looking to establish a presence within this culturally important quarter of the city. Digbeth is the next logical expansion of the city centre and an area to watch, underpinned by the BBC committing to the area.”
James Craig, Founder, Oval Real Estate, comments: “We are looking forward to launching The Bond in March 2023, with the aim to create a Creative Content Hub for the West Midlands. Together with funding assistance from the GBSLEP, Oval designed the Bond to provide a home for the best talent in the West Midlands and act as a magnet to attract the best staff in the city. We are excited to be working with Knight Frank on this project and hope the revival of the estate serves as a reminder that Birmingham can turn its hand to anything, taking landmarks from the Industrial Revolution and making them relevant for the Digital Revolution.”
The wider refurbishment of Digbeth has attracted new companies into the area to help build the creative success of the region. Digbeth will be welcoming household names such as BBC, MasterChef, and Newsbeat, along with award-winning crime drama creator, Steven Knight studios in light of the new Peaky Blinders movie to be filmed in Birmingham.
