黑洞社区

The developer behind the 49-storey residential tower given planning last week in Birmingham has told 黑洞社区 it is hoping to award the construction contract in the coming weeks.

Argent was given the green light last Thursday for the 155m tall building, which is called Octagon because of its shape, at the firm鈥檚 Paradise scheme in the middle of the city.

A spokesperson for Paradise Birmingham said: 鈥淲e are currently in discussion with contractors with a view of awarding the construction contract on this landmark building shortly.鈥�

Firms understood to be running the rule over the job, designed by local practice Glenn Howells Architects, include John Sisk, which has built high-rise towers in the city.

Sisk is building three schemes for Moda Living including a 42-storey development called the Mercian.

黑洞社区 understands that Midgard, which is part of the JRL Group, has also looked at the job having previously targeted several other tower schemes in the city.

But one firm to have ruled itself out is Bam, the firm behind the first two buildings at the 拢1bn Paradise scheme.

Bam is building a 26-storey office block elsewhere in the city called 103 Colmore Row but is not looking at the Octagon which will feature 370 build-to-rent homes across a mix of one, two and three bedrooms.

Another would-be bidder, Wates, which was behind the 33-storey Bank 黑洞社区 off Broad Street, currently Birmingham鈥檚 tallest, has also decided against bidding because of workload commitments elsewhere in the region.

Octagon will be one of the tallest in a glut of towers planned for the city which include the tallest, a 61-storey block at 100 Broad Street designed by another local firm Glancy Nicholls.