THE redevelopment of Sunderland’s Civic Centre site into a residential community has taken another step forward with the submission of a detailed planning application for 265 new homes.

The Vistry Partnerships plan will replace the brutalist civic centre which is no longer in use following the opening of City Hall late last year and provide a boost for the city centre, placing hundreds of residents on the doorstep.

Vistry, which is already delivering a high quality housing scheme in Ayton, Washington, was named as the preferred developer earlier in 2021 and has been working with the community to shape plans for the area.

The company will develop a mixed tenure community of open market and affordable homes with properties ranging from one to four bedrooms.

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The scheme will include attractive areas of formal and informal amenity space and enhanced pedestrian and multi-user links to the city centre, Ashbrooke and Mowbray Park.

The proposed architecture and streetscape will be sensitive to the parkside location and the Ashbrooke Conservation Area.

Andrew Rennie, Development Director with Vistry Partnerships North East said: “Taking another step towards delivering this exciting project before the end of the year is an exciting development.

“We are confident this will be instrumental in improving housing choice, employment opportunities and will regenerate a key, high profile site in Sunderland.”

Sunderland City Council announced plans to relocate from its Civic Centre base to Riverside Sunderland in 2019, and work commenced on City Hall later that year. Bringing together a range of public sector partners, who will work from the 190,000sq ft office space, City Hall was funded by institutional investor Legal & General, who are also working with developer Landid to build two speculative offices that will stand adjacent to City Hall.

The new homes on the Civic Centre site are part of a wider plan to build more than 7,000 new homes across the city by 2030.

 

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