Helios and Marrico are to develop a £120 million mixed use scheme in Newcastle after exchanging contracts to buy the long leasehold interest in a four-acre site in the city centre.
The Strawberry Place site is adjacent to St James’s Park, home of Newcastle United Football Club and has planning permission for 115,000 sq ft of offices, 162 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and 420 student rooms in four separate buildings ranging from eight to sixteen storeys.
Work is expected to start in the summer with completion scheduled for 2021.
Helios and Marrico are in discussion with a number of occupiers for all elements of the site.
Trevor Cartner of Helios said: “There is a shortage of good quality office accommodation in the city centre and strong demand resulting from a lack of development in recent years. This is the best remaining site in Newcastle and we are confident that occupiers will find it attractive.
“We also believe that Newcastle is ready for a high quality PRS scheme and the proposed range of top specification one and two bed apartments will benefit from being next to St James’s Metro station and on the main road into the City Centre.
Helios has developed several sites in Newcastle whilst Marrico recently completed Central Square in Leeds which comprises 220,000 sq ft of offices.
Marrico’s Mark Barnes said: “This means that our Development at Strawberry place, the final remaining part of undeveloped land in this area, can now move forward with confidence. We see distinct similarities between this scheme and Central Square in Leeds. Both are prominent city centre sites with excellent communications. The offices will be built to BREAM Excellent standard and will incorporate a number of innovative features to appeal to today’s tenants. We have carried out a lot of research on all aspects of the site and are confident the scheme will provide high quality buildings for this range of uses.”
BNP Paribas are advising the developers. Architects are Ryders and Project Managers are RBA Associates.
