A former North East industrial site, hit by North East-wide job-cuts, has been sold.
Venator Materials UK was forced to sell the property through informal tender after it entered administration in the face of escalating expenses and global rivalry.
Venator's restructuring saw the Birtley site close down, adding to more than 270 job losses across their UK sites.
These sites comprised Birtley, Wynyard, and Greatham.
A reduced workforce was kept on temporarily to oversee plant management and assist in asset disposal during the search for potential buyers.
Now, the old 17-acre manufacturing facility on Mary Avenue, Birtley, is no longer listed, with marketing agent Savills understood to have agreed a sale on behalf of administrators.
The sale process also involved Alvarez & Marsal, the administrators acting on behalf of the financially troubled chemical group.
Planted close to junction 66 of the A1(M), the site houses approximately 204,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and logistics buildings.
The site was promoted as a "rare" brownfield opportunity, suitable for diverse redevelopment possibilities such as new industrial, logistics, advanced manufacturing or residential-led projects, subject to getting planning approval.
Savills recently highlighted that the redevelopment of the site could support Gateshead Council’s Local Plan objectives, aiming to modernise employment land and lure new investments to the town.
Already, proposals are in place to transform the area around Venator’s former premises.
The approval for the construction of approximately 276 homes on an adjacent derelict site for Gleeson Homes was granted by Gateshead Council.
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Additionally, a proposal for around 106 homes on land to the east of the old factory has also been lodged, awaiting a decision.
Local leaders have underlined the need for new investment to rejuvenate lost long-standing industrial jobs and make the brownfield area productive again.
The identity of the acquired site’s new owner and the purchase price remains undisclosed.
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