Banqueting hall given go-ahead

Banqueting hall for 1,000 people in former Mercedes showroom given go-ahead

Tom Cramp - Local Democracy Reporter | Friday 5th May 2023 7:57am

A former Mercedes-Benz car dealership in Birmingham has been given permission to become a restaurant and wedding venue for almost 1,000 people. Plans were launched in January to rework the old German car dealership in Lawley into a banqueting hall for large events.

Vacant since December 2021, the site looks out onto the Lawley Middleway roundabout next door to Halfords. Developer Schosween 50 has a lease on the building for five years and has ambitions to deliver an ‘exemplary venue’ that establishes ‘a new bench-mark within Birmingham’s hospitality industry’.

The main dealership will become a buffet-restaurant space and dedicated function rooms with toilets and kitchen areas, with a maximum of 300 guests. A workshop at the rear will also be converted into a function room that will fit a further 300 people.

More car workshop spaces in a separate building will be reborn as further function space, a bride’s room, and more toilets. This area will accommodate 200 people.

Other areas of the site will be remodelled into function space and seating areas, adding an extra 90 covers in former offices and 40 in another small workshop. Plans indicate the maximum number of guests will be 930.

The restaurant within the main dealership will be open to the public seven days and week between 4pm and midnight. Most of the function space will not be open all week and can only be reserved through a booking system.

Owners want the new venue to be used for weddings, birthday parties, conferences, and other large-scale events. Just 168 parking spaces will be available on site.

Birmingham City Council approved the plans last month and said the proposals were ‘considered acceptable’ and would not cause any harm to the surrounding area. It added that the building’s use as a function space will discontinue in March 2028.

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