Plans have been lodged to build two new car parks next to the upcoming HS2 Interchange station in Solihull.
Urban Growth Company, the special-delivery vehicle set up by Solihull Council to maximise the growth opportunities associated with HS2's arrival in the borough, has submitted a hybrid planning application seeking full consent for an initial car park and outline consent for a second.
If successful, the projects would free up around 74 acres of land to go back to to developers as part of the Arden Cross scheme.
The HS2 Interchange development site is next to the M42, 1.2 miles east of Birmingham Airport, and is one of four stations to be built for phase one of the new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham.
It will be connected to the NEC campus, Birmingham International station and the airport via a new elevated people mover.
There is a pre-existing, legal requirement to provide car parking at this location and this was previously consented as 7,500-space surface car park.
The new proposal is to consolidate those spaces in a phased multi-storey car park instead. The first would be constructed to support the opening of HS2 between 2029 and 2033 and have around 4,000 spaces over nine floors.
The two lowest floors would be located below ground level, in addition to 500 surface level car parking spaces.
This is possible as a disused quarry has been selected as the site for the car parks, reducing their visual impact and making use of a location that would otherwise have been backfilled.
The second multi-storey car park, if required, would be eight storeys with one floor below ground level. This would contain approximately 3,000 spaces and would be located on the site of the first phase surface car park.
This would be constructed in time for the opening of HS2's later stages, connecting phase one with Crewe, Manchester and the East Midlands.
In May, it was announced that Vinci Construction had won the contract to build the new car parks.
The £3.2 billion Arden Cross scheme covers 346 acres of land at the same site and is set to create new commercial, leisure, education, medical and technology space alongside up to 3,000 houses.
Jonathan Bretherton, managing director of the Urban Growth Company, said: "This application is about so much more than a car park - it's about what it enables.
"Our plans mean we will enable the creation of a world-class opportunity for new homes and jobs right next to the new Interchange station and minutes from the existing Birmingham International station and airport when the HS2 people mover opens.
"This application marks incredible progress made by the public and private sector partners we work with and it wouldn't be possible without the £50 million grant from central government and the £45 million loan facility from the West Midlands Combined Authority."
A planning decision on the car parks is expected in November.
