Consortium Plans $1B Development for Central England

NOTTINGHAM-Eastside & City Developments, a consortium comprising Roxylight, Laing O’Rourke and Barclays, has submitted an outline planning application with the Nottingham City Council for a £700-million ($1.3-billion) mixed-use development in the Eastside area of Nottingham city center. The companies’ proposals include over 1.4 million sf of new office space, 1.3 million sf of residential, 127,000 sf of retail and 43,000 sf of bars and restaurants. The planning application is the first and largest component of a three-phase redevelopment of a 34-acre rundown industrial site known as the Extended Island Site. The consortium has reportedly spent £20 million ($37 million) over the past 15 months assembling the site, which is bounded by London Road and Manvers and Evelyn streets, and is located near Lace Market. The consortium hopes to receive approval within the next four months and break ground by the end of 2005.The focus of the development will be a stretch of the Nottingham canal, reinstated and extended to create a new basin and spur with a wooded island park at its heart. The office space together with new homes will be arranged along the banks of the canal. Leisure, cultural and community facilities will be set around and within the new park. Existing buildings, including the James Alexander and Great Northern warehouses, will be retained and reintroduced into the fabric of the new commercial environment. The Island will be connected to Nottingham’s existing city center via the city’s tram service. A series of pedestrian-friendly routes along the canal side will connect to the railway station and the offices of many key existing tenants, including Capital One, the Inland Revenue, the Law Courts, British Telecom and the Nottingham Evening Post. Roxylight is a London-based property investment and development company. Laing O’Rourke is one of the UK’s leading construction companies. The Island is being master planned by Hopkins Architects, whose past work in Nottingham includes the Inland Revenue Centre and the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus. CB Richard Ellis, Innes England and Fisher Hargreaves Proctor are the commercial agents. FPDSavills is the residential agent.