The scheme will provide 603 private rental flats in Birmingham city centre

The contractor will build three residential blocks of nine, 16 and 27-storeys, with the final block completed before the end of 2019.

Nikal gained outline consent to deliver 600,000 sq ft of commercial space, 150,000 sq ft of residential, and a 200-bed hotel over a year ago.

It later submitted an amended application lifting the limit of residential space permitted on the site from 150,000 sq ft to 700,000 sq ft, in response to a growing market demand for high quality accommodation within the city.

The scheme is the second phase of Nikal’s wider £600m mixed-use Masshouse development.

Nick Payne, managing director at developer Nikal which is behind the Masshouse project, said: “Exchange Square’s location, close to the city’s existing commercial, retail and transport hubs, will only be enhanced through the delivery of other widely anticipated large-scale development, including Curzon and the HS2 terminus.

“Bold development of this kind is needed to continue Birmingham’s ongoing regeneration and success.”