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Building towards Steel Town's rebirth

A property developer which takes its name from Middlesbrough’s industrial past has set out its plans to play a big role in the next stage of “Steel Town’s rebirth”.

City of Ironopolis is currently working on low-cost home developments totalling £1.75m in Middlesbrough and Redcar.The homes, mostly apartments, will go on sale for between £75,000 and £100,000 - well under the local average new build property price.

Andy Preston, 41, a fund manager and former City trader who founded the company with his 32-year-old brother, Chris. says: “City of Ironopolis is not a charity, far from it, but it is a company run by two brothers who were born in Middlesbrough and who still have strong family, social and business ties with the town, and want to see something good happening here.

“We have set out to build good quality affordable properties, but we’re not interested in selling to buy-to-let investors - we want our buyers to be local people who want to a better home for their families.”

City of Ironpolis is creating 25 two-bedroom apartments in the Saltersgill area of Middlesbrough and two two-bedroom houses in Redcar. Five of the apartments, in Saltersgill Avenue, will go on sale for less than £75,000, and the remainder and the houses in Redcar for under £100,000. The Preston brothers recently sold flats in Eston, Middlesbrough, at a price of less than £50,000 each.

The company, which is using respected local architect Steve Dodds, of Stockton-based sjd Architects, plans further developments in the Teesside area where homes will cost under £120,000.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .