The first phase of the long-running regeneration of town centre has won a prestigious regional award.
The scheme was crowned overall project of the year last night at the 2015 RICS West Midlands Awards at Town Hall Birmingham while the restoration of Newman Brothers Coffin Works in the was also a double winner.
Regeneration specialist has been carrying out a wholesale regeneration of the south Birmingham town following the collapse of MG Rover in 2005 which it is estimated will cost in the region of £1 billion.
Phase one of the £70 million town centre element includes a new Sainsbury's, Premier Inn and Beefeater while the region's largest Marks & Spencer store is due to open before the end of 2015.
A total of 31 West Midlands property schemes battled it out at the awards across eight different categories.
Longbridge town centre phase 1 also won the regeneration category before being crowned overall winner.
The black tie event was hosted by TV presenter Phil Spencer and welcomed more than 300 guests.
The other category winners were:
Most Read
- Newman Brothers Coffin Works, Birmingham (building conservation and tourism and leisure)
- Lion Medical, Stourbridge (community benefit)
- Kemball Special School, Stoke-on-Trent (design through innovation)
- Birmingham Airport runway extension (infrastructure)
- The School Yard, Harborne (commercial)
- Henley Grange, Henley-In-Arden (residential)
Winners in five of the categories - building conservation, community benefit, design through innovation, infrastructure and regeneration - will now automatically be entered into the national RICS Awards.
Don’t miss
Richard Moxon, chairman of the judging panel, said: "Longbridge is a more than deserving...it absolutely embodies the values the judges look for in a development.
"It serves its users in a way few other projects could. This large and complex regeneration project was delivered during a difficult time for the industry and required commercial innovation and tenacity to remain viable.
"Job creation from new business has reached 4,000 and will eventually exceed those lost by the closure of the car plant that used to occupy the site."