Seven transformational West Midlands developments to look out for in 2025
Canalside South – Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is in the midst of an urban renaissance, with a pipeline of 3,500 city centre homes aiming to help the city keep pace with its young and diverse population.
Canalside South is a £150m residential-led development that will deliver over 530 homes in a green, waterside setting – as well as around 14,000 sq ft commercial space using the site’s existing railway arches. Having unveiled plans for the 17-acre brownfield site at UKREiiF in 2024, developer Wavensmere Homes expects to break ground on the project early this year.
City Centre South – Coventry
Another West Midlands city with ambitious plans and a growing population of young people is Coventry, where a £450m project in the south of the city centre is due to break ground in 2025.
The housing-led proposals, being brought forward by The Hill Group and Shearer Property Group, will radically transform the area around Coventry market and provide residential density through the creation of 1,500 homes and 1 million sq ft of supporting retail and leisure to revitalise the city centre offering.
Kelvin Energy From Waste Facility – Sandwell
Due to open later this year, Enfinium’s Kelvin facility is an energy-from-waste plant that will divert up to 395,000 tonnes of non-recyclable household and business waste once fully operational. Generating enough energy to meet the needs of more than 95,000 homes and businesses, the facility will provide a cheaper and cleaner energy source for people who live and work in Sandwell – and make Sandwell an even more attractive place for businesses to locate.
Mell Square – Solihull
Solihull’s ambitious Town Centre Masterplan aims to build on an already highly successful centre, creating 1,600 new homes to support a thriving night-time economy.
Having been named as the Solihull Council’s preferred development partner last year, Muse launched a public consultation into its plans in November, to help shape a planning application which is expected in the first half of this year. The first phase of this major project could get underway as early as autumn 2025, with all nine phases aiming to be delivered over a ten-year period.
The Octagon and Three Chamberlain Square – Birmingham
The Paradise development has been truly transformational for Birmingham since it began over nine years ago, and The Octagon and Three Chamberlain Square will add two more world-class buildings to the city’s civic heart.
An instantly recognisable addition to Birmingham’s changing skyline, The Octagon will be Birmingham’s tallest building, rising to a height of 155 metres. Due for completion in 2025, this iconic building will provide 370 build-to-rent scheme homes with unprecedented views of the city and beyond.
Also due to complete later this year, Three Chamberlain Square will offer more than 189,000 sq ft of Grade A office space, becoming Birmingham’s most sustainable building and one of the only buildings in the UK outside of London to achieve both BREEAM Outstanding and NABERS 5* ratings.
Wednesbury to Brierly Hill Metro Extension – Dudley
The latest eagerly anticipated extension of the West Midlands Metro network promises to change the lives of people across Dudley and beyond. By connecting a large area of the Black Country with the region’s rail and rapid transit network, the project aims to not only improve public transport – but to open up new opportunities for investment and regeneration through new, direct connections to the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
The first phase of the extension to Dudley town centre is expected to open for passenger services in the autumn this year, while the second phase will see the route subsequently extended to Merry Hill Shopping Centre.
Willenhall and Darlaston Stations – Walsall
Walsall is in the midst of a £1.5 billion transformation that plans to deliver 4,000 new jobs and more than 1,000 new homes for its growing population.
The new stations are key to the borough’s regeneration plans, facilitating the reopening of a railway line between Walsall and Wolverhampton, and enabling major brownfield residential projects in Willenhall and Darlaston.
Having been due to complete in 2024, the project is progressing well following the appointment of new contractor, Kier Transportation, with the stations on track to open later this year.
