GVA this week completed the largest office transaction of the year so far in Birmingham, securing the top four floors of the New Technology Institute (NTI) for Birmingham City University.
The 28,000 sq ft space on Bartholomew Row in Eastside will become home to the university’s official headquarters. In order to prepare the office for the university’s occupancy, the whole building will undergo a full refurbishment and will change its name to University House – work is expected to be completed later this summer, giving logistics staff at the university time to move in before the start of the new academic year.
Director of estates at Birmingham City University, Graham Rhodes, praised GVA for its work in securing such a significant property for the university.
“GVA entirely understood our requirements in seeking a new administrative facility and their identification and subsequent securing of NTI absolutely meets our needs,” he told The Birmingham Post.
The NTI building is certainly a feather in the cap for Birmingham City University as the property has an existing BREEAM Excellent rating due to the number of environmental credentials in place. This not only helps the university to meet environmental targets in the running of its property portfolio, but will also reduce operating costs – the savings from which can be used to upgrade facilities elsewhere in the institute’s estate.
In addition, it was also previously a winner of the British Council for Offices (BCO) award. Birmingham City University will be the sole occupier of the property from September.
Director of GVA, Charles Toogood, believes the acquisition will work well for both Birmingham City University and for GVA.
He says; “This is a significant acquisition for the city and one that forms an integral part of Birmingham City University’s estates strategy, which has already seen the university expand into the city’s Eastside, with its recently completed Parkside building, on-going building development and additional space at Millennium Point (pictured).
“As well as being one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the city centre, NTI also carries an exceedingly high profile and there are few buildings in Birmingham that offer the right combination of flexibility and location.”
For many industry experts, this news will come as a refreshing change from the countless university investments into student halls of residence which have flooded the sector for some time. Hopefully, Birmingham City University will have set an example whereby educational institutions can examine their local options and complete deals set to benefit the wider local economy as well as themselves.
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