Partner Article

Another Newcastle Science Central building gets green light as exciting city plans gather pace

Newcastle Council has approved plans for the next stage of Science Central to go ahead, a new 12 storey tower block which could house almost 1000 technical jobs in the city centre.

One of the biggest urban regeneration projects of its kind in the UK, Newcastle Science Central is fast-becoming a major UK hub for scientific research and technology businesses.

The latest 100,000sqm office building to be given the green light, whose planning permissions was secured by Legal & General and designed by Newcastle’s Ryder Architecture, is expected to be completed by 2020.

In June 2016 Legal & General Capital, the investment arm of Legal & General Group, became the long term investment partner with Newcastle City Council (NCC) and Newcastle University (NU), to build and finance the Newcastle Science Central development.

LGC is working closely with LGIM Real Assets, its specialist property and infrastructure asset manager, to deliver the project.

Rachel Dickie, head of urban regeneration at Legal & General Capital, said, “City regeneration works best when you have collaborative partnerships. To have achieved planning on our second office building is a significant milestone towards delivering this major urban regeneration project.

“The partnership between ourselves, the Council and University has enabled this scheme to transform at pace, and it is fantastic to see the quality and the vibrancy of the urban landscape that is being created at Newcastle Science Central spring to life.”

Ben Rodgers, Senior Development Manager, added, “Through the regeneration of Newcastle Science Central, we will be able to deliver an ambitious vision for this landmark site that will see new uses of Newcastle city centre space, including state of the art office and research accommodation, new homes, hotel and public realm, and will bring thousands of new jobs to the area.

“This planning consent is yet another great step in achieving these goals with construction of this flagship office building planned to start on site next year and targeted for completion in early 2020.”

Jonathan Seebacher, architectural director at Ryder, said, “We are delighted to see the second Legal & General building achieve this significant milestone. Building B is the flagship at the heart of Science Central which promises to bring a unique and exciting offer to the Newcastle office market.”

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