Crisis-hit Birmingham council planning sale of landmark city centre tower to recover from financial woes
Crisis-hit Birmingham City Council is planning the sale of a landmark building as it looks to recover from its financial woes.
A vast array of properties and land have been sold since the start of last year after the Labour-run authority declared itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023.
More property sales are set to be approved at a meeting tomorrow, December 16, and one involves Alpha Tower in Suffolk Street Queensway, one of the tallest buildings in Birmingham.
According to the council, the city centre tower was built in the early 1970s and was given Grade II Listed status in 2014.
The development was originally conceived with the aim of creating a HQ for an independent television company and is now described as an “iconic building for dynamic and ambitious businesses”.
With the property being owned freehold by the council, the relevant committee are being recommended to proceed with the proposed sale to ‘assist with the local authority’s financial recovery’.
Responding to the plans, ward councillor Albert Bore said he was “sorry that the Birmingham City Council is giving up the freehold of buildings such as Alpha Tower”.
But he continued that he accepted the “financial necessity for doing so”.
On the option of doing nothing, the council said it is “under no obligation to proceed with the proposal and would suffer no reputational consequences if it did not proceed”.
However, it continued: “The negotiated capital receipt would not be realised at this time and would not be available to assist with delivery of the council’s financial recovery plan, with there being no guarantee of a future opportunity.”
The property is currently subject to a long lease to the current leaseholder, with the council saying it would be unlikely that it could reuse or develop the tower instead of selling it.
A council property committee have been recommended to approve an “unconditional freehold sale” at the meeting tomorrow.
Several issues contributed to the recent financial misery at the council, including the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT system.
Labour councillors have also pointed the finger at funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.
