Civic hub plan after sale of Methodist Central Hall
Birmingham’s landmark Methodist Central Hall building has been bought up by Civis, who plan to convert it into a civic and cultural hub for the city.
US-based charitable foundation, Civis, says its plans for the building will combine “commercial enterprise, cultural production, and civic dialogue” – with the revamped hall set to include studio and hospitality areas as well as space for businesses.
The deal, completed for an undisclosed sum this week, is the latest twist in a bid to save the grade two-listed building, which was placed on the Victorian Society’s endangered buildings list in 2025.
Built in 1904, the gothic revival structure on Corporation Street has stood empty for more than 20 years.
A previous proposal, which would have seen the hall converted into a 155-bedroom hotel known as The Dean, fell through in 2024 due to the collapse of hospitality group Creative Cedar.
The Civis Foundation is a philanthropic organisation which predominantly works in United States and Latin America. The group owns around £66m of assets and supports a range of civic and arts initiatives through grant funding programmes.
Its projects in the US include Hudson Public, an ‘affordable’ hospitality destination in New York, and Primus House – a cultural hub in Providence, Rhode Island, due to open next year.
The Central Hall scheme is the organisation’s first project in the UK.
“Central Hall has stood at the centre of Birmingham for over a century, and it deserves a future as vital as its past,” said Eric Galloway, President & Portfolio Curator at the Civis Foundation.
“This is our first project in the UK, hopefully the first of many, and we couldn’t have picked a more fitting home for it.”
Civis were advised on the transaction by Excello Law.
“Following a lot of hard work by various teams bringing their skills together, to have concluded this acquisition and secured the long-term future of Central Hall is a fantastic outcome,” said Richard Osborn, real estate and commercial property partner at Excello Law.
“We very much look forward to working with the Civis Foundation, a true force for good on a local and an international level.”
