Government welcomes £100m Sports Quarter investment

The Birmingham Wheels site has been closed since 2020 and was bought by Knighthead last April

A £100m investment in a Birmingham regeneration project has been welcomed by the government.

US company Knighthead has spent the money buying the 48-acre former Birmingham Wheels site in Bordesley and preparing it for regeneration.

It plans to build a 60,000-seat stadium for Birmingham City Football Club, which it bought in 2023, on the land in the east of the city, along with sporting facilities, shops and homes.

Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead and chairman of the football club, said the Sports Quarter project would eventually cost up to £3bn.

The company also said it would create up to 8,400 new jobs and encourage further investment in the area.

Mr Wagner said: "Birmingham and the West Midlands have huge untapped potential for growth, and we intend to seize that opportunity."

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, said the Sports Quarter was an "exciting venture that highlights how sport can be an important driver for regeneration and growth".