Whitbread has agreed a 25-year lease with Nikal on a new 225-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and 6,000 sq ft Bar + Block Steakhouse Restaurant for the second phase of Exchange Square in Birmingham City Centre.
Exchange Square is a significant new residential and lifestyle destination occupying a strategic site located between the Eastside and Colmore Business District and immediately opposite Curzon Street Station, the new home for HS2 when it arrives in Birmingham in 2026.
Exchange Square is being delivered in two phases. Premier Inn will occupy a new thirteen-storey building on a new public square proposed as part of a revised planning application for Phase 2, which is due to be submitted by Nikal shortly. Within the proposals are two further large retail/leisure units.
An agreement with Grainger PLC, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord and market leader in the UK private rented sector, to forward fund and acquire a 373 home development for rent also within Phase 2 Exchange Square, was announced in December last year.
Whitbread has entered an agreement to lease the completed hotel development, which is subject to planning approval. On opening, the Premier Inn and Bar + Block are expected to create approximately 90 new jobs, with recruitment focused in central Birmingham.
Stuart Rose, Regional Acquisition Manager for the Midlands at Premier Inn, said, “Securing a new Premier Inn at Exchange Square is a very exciting deal for Whitbread. It will be our first new-build hotel in Birmingham city centre and an excellent opportunity to showcase the quality of a latest generation Premier Inn hotel and Bar + Block restaurant in a prominent and central location.
“The deal at Exchange Square is part of our wider acquisition drive in Birmingham. Premier Inn customers want to stay in Birmingham city centre for business and leisure all year round and a new hotel at Exchange Square will help us to meet this strong customer demand as well as contribute to the transformation of a key gateway site in the city centre.”
Nikal’s Development Director, Darren Jones, is overseeing the business’s Birmingham based projects. He said, “Its fantastic to have Whitbread on board and this agreement puts us in a strong position to submit our revised planning application for Phase 2.
“Exchange Square sits within the Curzon Masterplan; an area benefitting from over £900 million of investment and expected to create 600,000sq.m of employment space, 36,000 new jobs and 4,000 new homes. These new proposals reflect Exchange Square’s importance as a hub for those working or visiting the city,” he adds.
Subject to planning approval on revised plans for Phase 2, the Premier Inn at Exchange Square is targeted to open in 2021.
Phase 1 Exchange Square is currently under construction and consists of 603 rental apartments and 30,000 sq ft of retail/leisure space across three buildings of 27, 16 and nine storeys. The first of the three towers is due for handover this month.