Homes and offices planned for major car park site

One of the largest car parks in Birmingham city centre could be replaced by offices and homes, according to the city council’s new development masterplan.Snow Hill multi-storey car park, which can accommodate more than 860 vehicles, could be transformed into more than one million sq ft of workspace and residential development, said proposals laid out in the authority’s Our Future City: Central Birmingham 2040 Framework.It comes after the closure earlier this year of the 205-space Ludgate Hill car park – known as the ‘Bomb Site’ – to allow the construction of 722 homes.The framework, which was unveiled yesterday (16 May) at the UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds, also proposes the closure of the Suffolk Street Queensway flyover, the narrowing of major roads and blocking or restricting the use of road tunnels.Speaking at Insider’s Birmingham 2040 Conference last month, Simon Delahunty-Forrest, assistant director of development at Birmingham City Council, said the authority was not focused on “demonising the car”.The masterplan, aimed at making the city greener, improving public transport and attracting more investment, is the city’s most important development strategy in more than 100 years, said Delahunty-Forrest.The framework, which has been developed with technical support given by Arcadis as lead consultant and Howells providing architectural support, outlines the potential to create 74,000 jobs, as well as up to 35,000 homes.It is hoped the proposals could double the city’s green spaces to a level comparable with Vienna and double Birmingham’s network of active travel routes to 200km.Council leader Ian Ward said: “It is our route map to becoming a greener city of more jobs, better transport options and higher quality, energy efficient new homes.”