Birmingham Knowledge Quarter Core

The Quadruple Helix Partnership – consisting of Aston University, Birmingham City University, Bruntwood SciTech and Woodbourne Group – has earmarked additional capital to realise the project, but there remains an opportunity for external funding partners to bring additional equity into this circa £4bn GDV project over the next 15-25 years.

The immediate B-KQ Core development opportunities centre around a 20-hectare area, controlled by Aston University and Bruntwood SciTech and includes the provision of 1.35m sq ft of commercial floorspace, 2,200 homes, 400 hotel rooms, 15 hectares of public realm and 500,000 sq ft of cultural and commercial space. Within this area, the northern gateway site envisions 250,000 sq ft of new commercial and innovation space and 1,500 homes with a mixture of PBSA and family accommodation. The site sits within the West Midlands Investment Zone, benefiting from a range of tax incentives designed to support new development.

Significant value has already been contributed to the partnership through land and assets, and the partnership is open to introductory conversations with funders who can bring additionality to the scheme’s objectives. Interest is sought from funders who can bring experience in innovation-led brownfield development, strong industry and research links, and those connected to HEI spin-out commercialisation and VC-style investing.

The site is prime for the delivery of knowledge-intensive, R&D-driven real estate, leveraging the universities’ respective specialisms in engineering, advanced digital technologies, and health tech research clustering. The land concerned is currently largely brownfield and economically underused space, with approximately 70% of land within this area currently underdeveloped or in need of physical regeneration.

The Knowledge Quarter will provide further phases of high-productivity employment space for development at the same density and use classes. This wider core incorporates existing institutions that are contributors to the purpose of B-KQ Core: Birmingham Children’s Hospital with a world-recognised genomics department, Birmingham City University Campus, and High Speed Two terminus, Curzon, including neighbouring development land earmarked for a Commercial Zone.

The wider vision for the 210-hectare area is to provide 580,00square metres of new commercial innovation-led floorspace, circa 4,800 new homes, a new 1,500+ keys hotel, new F&B and leisure facilities and additional public realm.

The quarter forms part of the West Midlands Investment Zone, which confers a wide array of planning and tax relief benefits and supports the necessary infrastructure development to enable full delivery such as:

• Full Business Rates Relief for newly occupied business premises and certain existing businesses where they expand in tax sites available until 31st March 2034
• Enhanced Structures and Building Allowances – 10% straight-line deduction per annum available until 31st March 2034
• Full Stamp Duty Land Tax Relief for land and buildings bought for commercial use or development for commercial purposes available until 30th September 2034
• 100% First Year Capital Allowances – a 100% first-year allowance for expenditure on plant and machinery
• Employer National Insurance Contributions threshold raised from £9,100 (2023/24) to £25,000 in respect of new eligible employees for the first 36 months of their employment