SpringUR - Spring aims £50M Scheme at Heart of Mere Green
One of the Midlands’s best-known developers has
unveiled plans for a £50 million regeneration scheme, to
transform the heart of a Birmingham suburb near Sutton
Coldfield.
SpringUR, Castlemore Securities’ urban regeneration arm,
has just submitted plans to Birmingham City Council,
which will revitalise the centre of Mere Green creating
a new vibrancy in the community.
Since acquiring the three acre site for around £11
million last year from Municipal Charities, the
Castlemore and SpringUR team have joined forces to
create a blueprint that delivers a niche mixed use
offering, bringing the best of both worlds together from
a retail and residential perspective.
Central to the Mere Green development is a new ‘Village
Square’, which will be landscaped and surrounded by
boutique style shops, restaurants and cafés. These will
be approached via a series of interconnecting walkways,
ensuring a safe and secure environment with improved
pedestrian links into the new retail area.
The proposals will provide 152 one and two bedroom
apartments, including a range of duplex corner units,
which have been incorporated into the scheme’s upper
levels over three storeys. Designed to create a new
relaxing lifestyle environment for residents, the
apartments benefit from a private landscaped courtyard.
Whilst most of the retail units which front the
development are designed for the smaller, independent
retailers, the larger units are likely to be of interest
to a number of select high street names, such as M&S
Food.
The site already benefits from being adjacent to
Sainsbury’s and incorporates a stylish new Loch Fyne
fish and seafood restaurant, located in the recently
refurbished Grade II-listed former school house.
Commenting, SpringUR planning director Keith Fenwick
said: “Our experience in both residential development
and mixed use regeneration schemes means that we have
been able to put forward these innovative plans for Mere
Green and address all market needs.
“We’re totally confident that this development works
from both a retail and residential perspective and
reflects the combined expertise of Castlemore with
Spring UR. Getting the ground floor retail scheme to
work in terms of prospective retailers was a key driver,
in addition to overcoming the services and waste
requirements".
“The early appointment of Manchester based Livingcity
Asset Management from day one, has also ensured that all
management aspects of the development hang together in
an integrated way and has provided the platform for the
residential scheme. Being able to produce plans which
work from every aspect is something we’re all really
proud of, and we’re looking to establish this part of
Mere Green as a safe, healthy and inclusive new
neighbourhood”, he added.
SpringUR has already carried out extensive public
consultation on its proposals and exhibited a 3D model
of the scheme, designed by Kinetic Architects from
Birmingham.
Brett Lovett, architectural director of SpringUR, and a
local resident himself, says the response has been
generally positive. “This is the first SpringUR scheme
to make planning since the company was launched some 18
months ago, so it’s been really important to get
everything right from the outset and ensure that the
proposals are sensitive to the needs and desires of
residents.
“Our proposals focus on maintaining the character and
identity of Mere Green, yet at the same time create a
welcoming new environment for residents, business and
visitors. As a local resident myself I have a personal
interest in developing a scheme that we all want to be
associated with, both now and in the future,” he said.
The planning application is expected to be determined
within a 13-week timescale, with work scheduled to
commence early next year and completion in 2010.
Email:
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Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
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Tel : 01622 745333
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