Plans for a stunning 12-storey office overlooking the River Tyne in Newcastle remain on the table despite the land now going on the market, property specialists say.
Designs for the office by award-winning Copenhagen and New York architects BIG, set to transform the site of the former Stereo and Barley Mow bar on Newcastle Quayside, were first unveiled last February.
The patch of land has been derelict for more than a decade, while the former bar has also been plagued by a number of fires.
Read more: Coffee, TV, beer and whisky - inside Boilerhouse's third Newcastle hair salon
Landowner Rob Cameron had worked with the team at BIG – which is known for designs for the ‘landscraper’ London headquarters of Google at King’s Cross as well as Copenhill, a waste-to-energy plant which doubles as a ski-slope in Copenhagen – on proposals for the grand, curved building.
They had been unveiled last February, a month before the first national lockdown, and had been due to be showcased at the world famous Mipim property festival in Cannes that June, which was then cancelled due to the pandemic.
Now Mr Cameron has put the site up for sale, but property consultants say the office proposal, which could create as many as 1,000 jobs, remains firmly in place.
The pandemic has, however, changed working habits with many employers switching to hybrid working patterns and embracing working-from-home, despite the Government encouraging businesses to plan office returns once it safe, to help the economic recovery of towns and city centres.
Most Read
As a result, property consultancy Knight Frank, which is marketing the land having been involved in the project since the start, says the land could now have other uses, including leisure or housing.
Patrick Matheson, partner at Knight Frank, said: “This is a fantastic, rare opportunity to buy a prime site which is the last remaining development plot left in the sought-after East Quayside area. Because of its position and the lie of the land on the site, it warrants a landmark building.
What is an InYourArea business membership?
Business Memberships give you access to people in your local communities, wherever you are in the 海角视频, when they’re looking for your products or services. We’re giving up to 10,101 businesses this opportunity for FREE as part of our #BackForGood campaign.
As a Business Member on InYourArea, we’ll show your business to people using InYourArea within a 10-mile radius, you’ll be prioritised in our local services directory when people near you search for the services you offer and you’ll also get the opportunity to be included within our daily email newsletter to local InYourArea members.
More than 5million people use InYourArea across the 海角视频 each month, so this is a great chance to reconnect with customers post-pandemic.
You can find out more about the Business Membership .
“The office development proposal designed by BIG gained positive feedback during pre-application discussions with Newcastle City Council and that option is still very much on the table. The site is also suitable for homes and leisure uses and we are expecting strong interest from the market.”
If progressed, the No 1 Quayside office development would bring 107,346 square feet of prime office space to the disused site – potentially creating 1,000 jobs.
The curved building has been designed to stand alongside the Sage Gateshead and Millennium Bridge as a key feature on the riverside, and would have a living, green roof, while each floor would also have its own private roof garden.