Gateshead signals mid-2027 start for Capital&Centric town centre scheme
Speaking at the North East Development Update, Anneliese Hutchinson, strategic director of economy, innovation, & growth for the council, provided the clearest timeline yet for the redevelopment of the historic Old Town Hall site, noting that an application is expected in September ahead of work starting next year.
“It’s been great working with them over the last year, and we’re expecting a planning application in September this year with start on site mid-2027,” she said.
The scheme forms a central part of Gateshead’s wider regeneration strategy, which aims to deliver 4,000 new homes across the town centre and attract up to 10,000 new residents over the coming years.
The council chose to partner with C&C on the project in May last year, and since then the developer has unveiled proposals for the grade two-listed Old Town Hall and surrounding civic quarter, with plans to redevelop the building and surrounding surface car parks into a neighbourhood with 243 homes, cafes, bars, restaurants, and green spaces.
According to Hutchinson, the project is expected to play a key role in reconnecting different parts of the town centre following the removal of the Gateshead flyover.
“The game changer is going to be Capital&Centric,” she said. “It’s not just the houses they’ll build, but the sense of place we’ll create and the fact that they’ll link what we’ve managed to do on the High Level Bridge side of the area up into our town centre.”
The development sits within the council’s wider “Gateshead Thriving” regeneration programme, which includes the transformation of the town centre core, redevelopment opportunities around Baltic and Gateshead Quays, and the creation of a new Southern Gateway neighbourhood enabled by the flyover demolition.
