Singapore real estate developer City Developments Limited (CDL) has purchased and is developing the site of the 49-storey Octagon residential tower 鈥� the world鈥檚 tallest pure octagonal residential skyscraper.
Designed Glenn Howells Architects, Octagon will be 155 metres (509 feet) high and will be Birmingham鈥檚 tallest building on completion, which is scheduled for 2025. It will house 370 apartments of various sizes for the private rented sector.
Midgard, part of the JRL Group, has been awarded a 44-month contract to demolish the existing 77 Paradise Circus Queensway office building and build the Octagon. Site works began this week.
Midgard will be erecting a 179-metre tower crane on site in the first half of 2022, which will reportedly be the tallest tower crane ever used in the city.
The estimated total development cost (including land cost) is around 拢110m.
聽The team leading Paradise Birmingham, MEPC, will remain as the development manager of the building.
The investment by developer CDL and the appointment of Midgard comes on the back of three new detailed planning applications that were recently submitted to Birmingham City Council to complete phase two of the Paradise Masterplan.
Rob Groves, regional development director with Paradise development manager MEPC, said: 鈥淎ttracting an investor of the reputation and quality of CDL is a major coup for Paradise and Birmingham. They are a major player globally and have shown great confidence in the city and the region.
鈥淭he award of lead contractor to Midgard for the construction of Octagon is another pivotal moment in the life of this project. It demonstrates our commitment to excellence during the construction phase of the building and beyond.
鈥淥ctagon is a game-changer for the city鈥檚 skyline and to now have spades in the ground brings us closer to realising our vision for a unique, world-class building right in the heart of Birmingham.鈥�
He added: 鈥淔rom day one, our ambition with Octagon has been simple 鈥� to build one of the finest apartment schemes ever seen in the UK. Everything about it 鈥� its height, the size of the apartments themselves and their design, the views and the location in the city centre 鈥� will be a first and we can鈥檛 wait to see the building making progress on Birmingham鈥檚 skyline.
鈥榃ith further landmark buildings to follow at Paradise, along with the new public realm that will knit Paradise and the wider city centre together, we continue to create a new piece of the city for the people of Birmingham.鈥�
Midgard director Kevin Keegan said: 鈥淭his is a world-class project, as is the whole of the Paradise scheme, with cutting edge design and architecture. By bringing our expertise of constructing tall buildings to bear at Paradise, we will ensure this landmark tower is built on time and on budget.鈥�
Neil McGinty, UK development director at CDL, said: 鈥淪ince we made our foray into the UK BTR (build to rent) segment in 2019 with the acquisition of The Junction in Leeds, we have been looking for opportunities to grow our portfolio strategically through the development of iconic BTR residential landmarks. Our investment in the Paradise project allows us the unique opportunity to actively participate in the rejuvenation of the Birmingham city region.鈥�
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