Striking CGI revealed in bid to build 500 new homes at St Hilda’s

St Hilda's housing application by Middlesbrough Counci
Author: Alex Metcalf, Local Democracy Reporting ServicePublished 27th May 2021

FRESH plans to bring 500 new homes to the historic heart of Middlesbrough have been unveiled as a housebuilding push gathers pace.

Middlesbrough Council has applied to create the new housing on land surrounding the Old Town Hall, “over the border” at Middlehaven.

The St Hilda’s bid, alongside construction giant BCEGI, aims to create 500 residential units on 10 sites bounded by Stockton Street, Richmond Street, Feversham Street, Cleveland Street, Durham Street, and Commercial Street.

It comes as a refreshed Middlehaven masterplan takes shape on a vast tract of land north of the A66.

Planning documents state the “prime site” for renewal would also have potential commercial, leisure and office uses

Drawings show 10 plots would feature a mix of town houses, maisonettes, and apartments with studios and ground floor accommodation also part of the vision.

Historic North, South, East and West streets would be reinstated near the Old Town Hall in a nod to the area’s 19th century grid pattern.

Feversham Street would be closed to traffic to make way for an urban park allowing pedestrian and cycle access.

And there are also ambitions to restore the old market square near the Grade II listed town hall to its “former glory” – with stalls, shoppers, businesses and residents welcomed back.

The design statement adds: “The residential plots, though cognisant of the terraced street patterns of the original masterplan, return with a landscape focus.

“A multitude of residential courtyard gardens, private gardens, linear parks and open public spaces support the residential street edges – creating a beautiful, secure and communal place to live.”

If approved, officials say work to prepare the site for homes and key infrastructure would begin early next year.

Middlesbrough grew out of St Hilda’s and the area north of the railway has seen vast upheaval in the past 150 years.

Regeneration efforts since the 1980s have had mixed results – with the area’s home clearances leaving large expanses of empty brownfield land.

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston has ambitions to bring an extra 4,000 residents to the centre of town in the next decade.

He said: “St Hilda’s was once the heart of Middlesbrough.

“I want to see its remarkable history and enviable location used to make it one of the most exciting parts of town.

“The area is a hive of activity at the moment as work finishes on some sites and gets started on others.

“It’s happening now as we start a new chapter for the oldest part of town.”

Wider ambitions to create a digital city campus north of the railway are continuing – with the hope of bringing £250m of business and residential development in the coming years.

Diggers are on site near the Old Captain Cook Pub at the moment near the “urban pioneer” properties, off Durham Street.

Work on the adjusted 60,000 sq ft Boho X office development will start later this year with a new secondary school and an urban farm also planned for the area.

Agreement was also reached earlier this year to use £7.9m of “brownfield fund” grants via the Tees Valley Combined Authority to sort out five sites for 634 new homes at Middlehaven.

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