The mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Andy Street said this week that the region’s investment pipeline was “bigger than pre-pandemic” as he revealed a £15bn package of investment opportunities at Mipim.
Speaking exclusively to Property Week from Cannes, Street said 2022 would be a big year for the region, as it hosts the Commonwealth Games this summer, and revealed that he had already had a number of “key one-to-one meetings” on many of the schemes being promoted at the property event.
The opportunities marketed by the WMCA at Mipim included Birmingham Curzon HS2, the third phase of Paradise Birmingham, Nuneaton town centre’s redevelopment, the 309-acre West Midlands giga factory site at Coventry Airport, the south site of “automotive innovation cluster” MIRA Technology Park and “a significant residential and commercial development” on the site of the former car plant at Longbridge.
Street said all of the projects in the WMCA’s £15bn opportunity package had the backing of their respective local authorities and highlighted the WMCA’s strong track record of delivering projects marketed at previous Mipims, such as the first two phases of Paradise Birmingham, Exchange Square in Birmingham and Friargate Coventry.
“The point to take away from all of that is: if the West Midlands says something is going to happen, it does,” he said.
Street added that he was “very confident” about the prospect of capital coming into the region post-pandemic. “Our investment pipeline is bigger now than it was pre-pandemic. That is a very good indicator of the strength of the market. And if you look at prices in both residential property and commercial property in the West Midlands, they are extremely strong.”
Asked whether he was concerned London might attract investors instead, Street argued that there was “more than enough investment for both.”
He added: “I don’t see it as an ‘either/or’ situation. If you take the HS2 Interchange in Solihull, for example, it’s pretty unique in terms of the connectivity it provides and the opportunity to genuinely create a new town in the Solihull area.”
Street’s message to the property industry was that “there are very practical opportunities in the West Midlands that are absolutely ready and we will partner with you to unlock them.”
