Major retailers sign up to Darlington site

A former industrial site in Darlington is set to be transformed into a retail park.

Leeds-based developer Almscliffe-Dhesi has secured five major occupiers for the two-acre Faverdale site, with Costa, Greggs, Indigo Sun, Harrison Vets and Fastned taking units.

A portion of the site has also been sold to McDonald’s, which is building its own unit.

Construction is set to start next month.

This comes hot on the heels of Almscliffe-Dhesi’s recent announcement that it had started work on a multi-million-pound, 100 job-plus retail development on the site of Sunderland’s former Farringdon Hall Police Station.

Neil Creeney, director at Almscliffe-Dhesi, which he established in 2019 alongside Bal Singh, said: “This is phase one of a wider development on the Faverdale site. 

“There is a further four acres that have retail consent, which will be developed in due course.

“We are absolutely delighted to have signed up a number of high-profile and successful retail operators for phase one. 

“They will make a significant difference to the retail offer in this popular area of Darlington, and will prove to be a timely boost for the local economy.”

Bal added: “We have recently completed three successful developments in the North East and North Lincolnshire, which have given us the confidence our business model is the correct one, attracting popular national retailers to regenerated brownfield sites and creating new and sustainable jobs. 

“We are now on site at a prestigious development in Sunderland, and can’t wait to get started in Darlington.”

Backed by £4 million in funding from Hampshire Trust Bank, the project is scheduled for completion in September. 

Neil Leitch, managing director, development finance, at Hampshire Trust Bank, added: “In this case, the developer’s strong track record and the high-quality tenant line-up stood out, making it clear this was a project worth backing.”

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