Britain’s biggest Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) has been launched in Birmingham in a bid by regional leaders to unlock more than £11bn of housing, transport and commercial regeneration projects in East Birmingham and the city centre.
The Birmingham East Mayoral Development Corporation (BEMDC), unveiled by West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker earlier this month, is intended to speed up investment by combining planning, land assembly, infrastructure funding and development powers under a single body.
The £11bn figure includes a mixture of government-backed infrastructure projects, council-led regeneration schemes and privately funded commercial and residential developments.
Investment focus on transport and infrastructure
Much of the public investment will be focused on transport and infrastructure, particularly around HS2 Curzon Street Station and the proposed Metro tram route, while private capital is expected to fund large parts of the residential, commercial, leisure and mixed-use development linked to those schemes.
Among the biggest projects are the £4bn Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, which is intended to expand the city’s life sciences, education and research sectors, and the £2bn Smithfield regeneration scheme next to the Bullring, where plans include homes, offices, leisure space, markets and public squares on the former Birmingham Markets site.
The MDC area also includes HS2’s Curzon Street Station and the adjoining Central Heart development site, which is expected to deliver new homes, offices, public space and improved connections between Curzon Street, the Bullring, New Street Station and the Colmore business district.
Birmingham City FC’s proposed £3bn Sports Quarter
Meanwhile, Birmingham City FC’s proposed £3bn Sports Quarter includes plans for a new 60,000-seat Powerhouse Stadium, entertainment venues, housing and wider commercial development linked to new transport infrastructure in East Birmingham.
The Sports Quarter project is being driven by Birmingham City FC’s US owners Knighthead, while the Knowledge Quarter forms part of wider university, research and commercial investment tied to Birmingham’s education and life sciences sectors.
Together, the developments are expected to support more than 20,000 homes and 50,000 jobs.
Large-scale regeneration
The role the MDC will play in this is to simplify the large-scale regeneration of the city by creating a single organisation responsible for planning, land assembly and delivery co-ordination, reducing the need to navigate multiple authorities and agencies.
“This MDC is big, bold and ambitious, reflecting Birmingham’s position as the UK’s second city,” says Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands.
“It will be a magnet for investment, de-risking major projects while providing the stability and continuity needed for investor confidence.
MDC will cut through red tape
“It will also cut through red tape, so we waste no time getting spades in the ground on these hugely significant regeneration schemes.”
The launch took place at the UKREiiF property conference in Leeds following government approval for the project, which is being positioned as one of the UK’s biggest regeneration programmes since the London Legacy Development Corporation helped transform parts of East London after the 2012 Olympics.
Joanne Roney CBE, Managing Director of Birmingham City Council, says the MDC would help strengthen Birmingham’s position as a major UK investment destination.
“The MDC will enable and accelerate developments in the heart of the city and in East Birmingham that will transform lives, creating tens of thousands of jobs, thousands of homes and adding billions to the local economy,” she says.
“It positions our city as one of the most attractive and competitive city centres in the UK – there has never been a better time to invest in Birmingham.”
