Developers have unveiled new plans to regenerate a prime Newcastle city centre plot which include the creation of one of the city’s largest ever office schemes.
Taras Properties – a development vehicle for billionaire real estate entrepreneurs, the Reuben Brothers – first unveiled plans for the former Odeon Cinema site two years ago, which included a £200m luxury leisure, shopping and living scheme.
Now however, original plans for retail, housing and a potential hotel have been swapped for a huge development scheme called Pilgrim’s Quarter, a 678,000sqft office block which will have space for more than 6,700 workers across nine storeys.
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Retail is still included in the new scheme, albeit on a much smaller scale of around 10,000sqft, solely on the ground floor.
Plans for Pilgrim’s Quarter are being driven forward by Avison Young on behalf of the site’s owners, who recently acquired neighbouring shopping property Monument Mall.
The scheme would also incorporate public realm improvements and 146 car parking spaces, including electrical vehicle charging points. Also included is the retention and refurbishment of the southern side of Carliol House, which would now become part of the office scheme instead of initial plans to turn it into a 250-bed hotel.
The proposals build upon recent planning permissions for the nearby Bank House, Pilgrim Place and the former Fire Station, all of which are being progressed by Taras Properties.
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Ahead of submitting a planning application for the proposals in October, a public exhibition is being held at Newcastle City Library showing how the proposals will look.
An overview of the public consultation details how the plans have evolved, saying: “The site has previously been considered for substantial retail use. With recent changes in the city centre retail and leisure market, there is now reduced demand for additional retail and leisure provision with increasing vacancy levels in the city centre.
“The core principle of Pilgrim’s Quarter office development is to bring new workers into the city centre, priming footfall to the retail and leisure areas and the broader city centre offer.”
The changes come six months after Michelle Percy, Newcastle City Council’s director of place, urged the developers not to “tear the heart” out of the struggling Eldon Square with its original plans.
She said that new shops forming part of the transformation of East Pilgrim Street were “not justifiable” after the city centre’s retail industry was devastated by the pandemic.
There will be much conjecture over potential tenants for an office scheme of Pilgrim’s Quarter’s size, it being the largest new build of its kind in the city centre, coming in way above the 400,000qsft for Bank House and the 100,000sqft-plus for both Lumen and The Spark at nearby Helix.
A number of new office developments have also been put in question by the pandemic, but it is known that HMRC is looking for offices for its 6,500 staff in the city centre after it announced plans to leave the Benton Park View site.
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Ryder Architecture is working with Taras Properties on the new plans, which will include landscaping and a new public realm, plus the provision of a new cycle and pedestrian infrastructure. At the centre of the site, an open courtyard will also be open to the building users.
Property consultancy Avison Young is driving forward the plans on Taras Properties’ behalf.
A spokesman for the firm said: “On behalf of Taras Properties we are pleased to announce the commencement of public consultation for the Pilgrim’s Quarter scheme. We look forward to hearing the views of residents, businesses and stakeholders on what we believe will be a transformational development for the city centre.”
The plans will be on show on September 22 from 10am to 5pm and on September 23 from 10am to 7pm.
The consultation material is also available to download at www.pilgrimsquarternewcastle.com.
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