Birmingham's reputation as a culinary destination has been boosted by plans to create a food hub in one of the city’s most desirable districts.
Birmingham&apos;s reputation as a culinary destination has been boosted by plans to create a food hub in one of the city’s most desirable districts.
Owners of the Calthorpe Estate in Edgbaston plan to piggy back on the city’s growing foodie reputation by developing a fine dining quarter near the Michelin-starred Simpsons Restaurant.
A six bedroom boutique hotel and cocktail lounge called The Edgbaston is to open at 18 Highfield Road later this year, as part of property investment company Calthorpe Estates’ plans.
The new venue from Stuart and Darren Insall, owners of Warwickshire cocktail lounge and boutique hotel The Kenilworth, is in a Georgian building most recently used as offices.
Jayne Herritty, sales and marketing director, said: “We are working on a master plan that will attract quality operators to build on the fine dining and niche retail we have on offer.
“There is an opportunity to develop a new centre or heart of Edgbaston around a triangle that runs from Five Ways down Harborne Road, across down Greenfield Crescent and incorporates Highfield Road.
Calthorpe Estates oversees 610 hectares in Edgbaston – one of the UK’s largest urban conservation areas.
The company has agreed to change the use of some of its buildings to allow for the food hub, including at 22 Highfield Road.
Anytime Fitness, a 24 hour gym, has also opened in Harborne Road in a former office building close to the new Morrisons supermarket on the site of the former Five Ways Shopping Centre.
“We believe Edgbaston is the Mayfair of Birmingham,” said Stuart Insall.
“We are friends with Andreas Antona who opened Simpsons Restaurant following his success in Kenilworth and we aim to offer a memorable experience that further enhances the quality of leisure destinations in the area.
Calthorpe Estates said plans for the food hub will evolve over time and will be reliant on interest.
The Calthorpe Business Alliance, an independent business association, has asked for more retail and leisure.
Ms Herritty added: “We’re not going to overdo it – we don’t intend on creating another Broad Street.
“People in their 40s or 50s who go for a meal in Simpsons don’t necessarily want to go to Broad Street.
Julia Willoughby, spokeswoman for Calthorpe, said plans for a food hub were a ‘diversity strategy for the portfolio and about having the right mix on the estate’.
“People living and working in the area don’t always want to go into Birmingham,” she said. “If you look at London there’s different suburbs and Edgbaston is a place in its own right and there’s not enough retail and leisure at the moment.
“If you can bring in retail you’re making more of a place.
“When they knocked Five Ways Shopping Centre there was the intention to build more retail and leisure.
“After Morrisons opened that created more of a heart to Edgbaston.
Part of the Calthorpe Estates masterplan also includes the regeneration of the old BBC studios at Pebble Mill, which include a new five-storey dental hospital, a school of dentistry, and a 62-bed Bupa carehome.
Planning permission for a 161,400 sq ft private hospital was granted in October 2009 on a plot fronting Pebble Mill Road and a long lease was granted by Calthorpe Estates to Circle Health towards the end of 2011.
Calthorpe said it hopes formal proposals will come forward for the private hospital over the coming year.