A £51m black hole in Birmingham's ambitious Paradise development caused by spiralling costs has been plugged, it has been confirmed.

The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) confirmed it had 'provisionally approved' the necessary funding after holding an extraordinary board meeting in December.

A spokeswoman said: "After a thorough due diligence process, the GBSLEP Board has provisionally approved additional funding for Paradise worth £51m.

"This decision is subject to the formal governance process being completed in early 2019."

Paradise Street, Birmingham
Paradise Street, Birmingham

The Paradise masterplan includes ten new buildings for offices, shops and dining, hundreds of car parking spaces, a new hotel and public spaces between Centenary Square and Chamberlain Square.

But the project became embroiled in controversy last year when it emerged Birmingham City Council bosses .

The scheme was initially estimated to be worth £700m including private sector investment.

The council and LEP originally agreed to £87.8m worth of funding - for demolition and infrastructure works - which was to be split over three phases; £37.7m, £28m and £22.1m.

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But the first two sums were swallowed up by phase one works alone which enabled the One Chamberlain Square and Two Chamberlain Square buildings with a combined 355,000 square foot of office space.

While some works were brought forward an extra £29m worth of costs were racked up due to a number of factors including the collapse of Carillion and construction inflation.

It meant an extra £50-£51m was needed for phase 2 works to progress.

Despite the setbacks the council's Audit committee was told in November that the scheme would still reap huge benefits for Birmingham including the creation of 10,000 jobs and generation of £300m worth of business rates.

Time Line

A brief history of Paradise - key events in £700m project

  1. September 2013

    The Library of Birmingham meaning preparations can begin in earnest for the end of the now defunct Central Library

  2. January 2015

    Work starts on island and Summer Row. Traffic jams ensue. Businesses at the Paradise Forum shopping mall close

  3. November 2015

    Paradise Forum sending pedestrians via Fletchers Walk and enabling the start of Central Library demolition

  4. May 2016

    Central Library is "sliced in half", meaning the from outside the Council House for the first time in more than 40 years

  5. August 2016

    The and work begins on the foundations of One Chamberlain Square

  6. August 2017

    Phase two of Paradise is launched with designs showcased for Phase two also includes another office building called Three Chamberlain Square and a 250-bedroom hotel to replace the Copthorne

  7. January 2018

    Carillion collapses, on One Chamberlain Square

  8. February/March 2018

    BAM Construction is and then a few weeks later wins the contract to

  9. November 2018

    Project is left in limbo after it emerges