The ambitious scheme is being funded by Kuwaiti developer Salhia Real Estate Company. Once completed it will boast a 27-storey tower within the 600,000 sq ft of offices, leisure and retail space, a hotel and public square.

Phase one is scheduled to start in September and will see construction of a 60,000 sq ft hotel and the refurbishment of the grade II-listed cold storage building on Digbeth High Street into offices (Pic below).

Salhia signed an agreement with HSBC in January to fund the first phase, with the bank providing more than £10m.

Aziz AlNafisi, investment group head at Salhia, said: “The Beorma Quarter will be a fantastic addition to the city of Birmingham and the approval of the plans for the first phase of the development means we can really start moving the project forward.

“We have secured a pre-let on the hotel space, which we will be announcing shortly, and we’re close to appointing a construction contractor, so I’m confident that we’ll be in a position to start on site come the Autumn.

“Salhia chose Birmingham for its first solo development in the UK because it recognised the opportunities that exist in the city for a scheme like this to succeed and buys into the vision of where Birmingham is going in terms of its redevelopment.”

“Salhia is investing in the city as much as it is investing in the Beorma Quarter. It is not simply planning to build and sell up. Salhia wants to be in Birmingham for years to come.”

Beorma Quarter, designed by London-based Trevor Horne Architects, lies on an historic site, said to be the birthplace of Birmingham.