Image: A 27-storey tower will dominate the scheme

Birmingham City Council (BCC) has approved plans for the first phase of the new £150m Beorma Quarter - a mixed-use scheme in the Digbeth area to be dominated by a 27-storey building.

Work is due to start on phase one of the development in September and will include a new 60,000sq ft (5,574sq m) hotel and the revamp of the Grade II-listed cold storage building.

Kuwait-based real estate group Salhia is funding the Beorma Quarter, having signed a deal with HSBC earlier this year for the first phase. The bank is contributing more than £10m.

Financing for later phases of Salhia's first solo development in the UK will come through pre-lets secured on the building. Trevor Horne Architects have designed the project.

Abdulaziz Ghazi AlNafisi, investment group head at Salhia, said: "The Beorma Quarter will be a fantastic addition to the city of Birmingham and the approval of the plans for the first phase of the development means we can really start moving the project forward.

"We have secured a pre-let on the hotel space, which we will be announcing shortly, and we're close to appointing a construction contractor, so I'm confident that we'll be in a position to start on site come the autumn."

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