Birmingham City Council claims to have an open door policy for the property sector. Really? Those of you who have already read this week's edition of Estates Gazette will have seen that the top news story of the week involved the future of Birmingham's wholesale markets site.
To recap, the 21 acre site is the biggest development opportunity in the city centre and Hammerson has stepped forward and approached US developer Hines to partner it for a major mixed-use scheme. Hammerson's involvement with this site couldn't have come too soon. Not only does the REIT have a proven track record of delivering in the city, its involvement could signal a more inclusive approach to dealing with one of the city's key land assets.
This is something that's long overdue. Since the news of Hines' involvement in the wholesale markets site broke in March 2008, Birmingham City Council and Hines have remained incredibly tight-lipped about their plans. When the news broke (see story on EGi here), I had a number of furious developers call me to tell me in no uncertain terms how annoyed they were that the opportunity had not been widely advertised through the OJEU process and how unfair they felt it was that Hines was in pole position under these circumstances.
I have pressed the council on this a number of times and asked whether it plans to tender via OJEU and what the plans are for the site going forward. These enquiries as well as face to face meetings with the council have yielded precious few answers.
This is surely unacceptable for the
Many of my developer and investor contacts would love to know as they remain in the dark. Perhaps, if the door is really open, as the council claims, it needs to be better signposted? And quickly - otherwise there is a real danger that rival cities will steal lead that will be impossible to recapture.
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