A new Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and a 100K SK leasing to a pharmaceutical business show that life sciences really is turning into Birmingham’s post-pandemic property market saviour.

Birmingham Health Innovation Campus has been announced as one of eight ‘shovel ready’ projects in the West Midlands that will benefit from a combined £66M of Government funding. The project, created by the University of Birmingham, was awarded £10.8M, which will fund a 64.5K SF first building. This will focus on growing smaller health technology businesses.

The campus will mix high-quality lab, office, incubation and innovation facilities for forward-thinking businesses. It is touted as the only science park in the region dedicated to health and life sciences.

Work to select a development partner on the university’s £300M life sciences park was frozen earlier this year. The pre-selection process for the 580K SF scheme began in October 2018 but is now likely to accelerate.

In a separate move, UPS Healthcare’s Polar Speed pharmaceuticals brand has taken 100.5K SF at The Hub, Birmingham, for its new temperature-controlled Midlands warehouse.

"This letting will be welcomed by the city and the region, attracting significant inward investment from Polar Speed at a time when the local economy is looking for a much-needed boost," IM Properties Development Manager Richard Sykes said.

The Hub was developed speculatively by IM Properties in a joint venture with Birmingham City Council.

Contact David Thame at david.thame@bisnow.com.