A derelict spot in Birmingham city centre is set to be transformed into a plush new apartment block in a £125 million development.
City firm Court Collaboration has taken over the Holloway Head scheme, close to the giant Radisson Blu tower, and wants to start work on up to 487 apartments by next year.
New plans for the 17-storey scheme, drawn up by architect Corstorphine + Wright, also include ground floor shops as well as a gym and rooftop gardens for residents.
The plot has lain vacant for more than 25 years but, after agreeing a deal to buy it from Panther Securities, Court Collaboration's founder Anthony McCourt says it has a bright future.
Panther has long been planning to regenerate the run-down spot, which is also home to Girlguiding Birmingham, and it was once before taking a new direction
Around 20 separate planning applications have been lodged for the site since the 1990s.
The development is a stone's throw away from the most expensive apartment ever sold in the city centre - - and Mr McCourt said the area was becoming a more attractive place to live.
He said: "With Grand Central, the improvements to the Mailbox and the wider transformation of Birmingham city centre, Holloway Head is an in-demand location. We have something really special planned.
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"This area is going to improve and improve and we're thrilled to be a part of that. This shows our confidence in what is happening in the city.
"Things like the Curzon Street HS2 regeneration and the Smithfield scheme at the wholesale markets site are already transforming the city centre as a place to work and live and we are prepared to take risks and invest on the back of that vision.
"We are here in Birmingham seeing things happen in front of our eyes - you can't do that from an office in north London."
Hertfordshire-based investor Panther Securities worked to get the scheme, at 49-51 Holloway Head, off the ground from 1990 but it resulted in the recent £11 million sale.
Mr McCourt thinks everything is in place to make a success of what he calls the "Leabank Quarter" near Holloway Head.
He points to the nearby Concord House scheme in a former Debenhams warehouse as evidence of people willing to live in this area.
It will see the long-awaited rebirth of the derelict 1.3 acre brownfield site which is central to the regeneration of that corner of the city.
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Mr McCourt said he expected to see interest from young professionals on the back of hundreds of jobs moving to Birmingham with the likes of HSBC and HS2 relocating here.
Hundreds of jobs will be created in the construction phase.
The apartments will be sold through Court Living - a new arm of the Colmore Row-based firm which will deal directly with the market.