26/5/2010 Work begins on £30 million Student Village for Newcastle

Construction has started on the second phase of Newcastle’s flagship Downing Plaza scheme, which is transforming the former Scottish and Newcastle Brewery site in the city centre.

Property group Downing has begun work on a £30 million student village at the site, adjacent to St James’ Park football ground and bounded by Wellington Street and Heber Street.

The development will feature 519 en-suite student bedrooms, spread across three buildings, rising to 10 storeys. An additional 8,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space will also be created, providing an active frontage onto Heber Street.

Work on the first phase of Downing Plaza is already well underway. The student village will be located next to 135,000 sq ft of offices and teaching space, which has been pre-let by Newcastle University Business School in a record deal for the city’s property market.

The scheme is being constructed by Downing’s in-house contracting division, George Downing Construction (GDC), and is scheduled for completion in August 2011, ready for the city’s new student in-take in September.

Paul Houghton, director at Downing, said: “There’s a clear demand for high quality student accommodation in Newcastle city centre and Downing Plaza will deliver a safe, fit-for-purpose student cluster in the heart of the city.

“Students make a massive contribution to the cultural, social and economic fabric of a city and the market for student housing is strong and relatively stable, having experienced robust rental growth in the past five years.

“Downing Plaza will provide the perfect base for generations of young people to enjoy the best Newcastle has to offer in terms of education and city living.”

Downing Plaza is regenerating a key, four-acre site in Gallowgate, with six iconic buildings designed by acclaimed architects Ian Simpson. Future phases of the scheme will include an additional 100,000 sq ft of offices, two hotels - a 183-bed hotel and 102 serviced apartments - and extensive retail space. Newcastle-based storeys:ssp are agents for the scheme.

Downing is widely regarded as a pioneer of city centre student accommodation having been one of the first property developers to move the concept of housing for education away from the old ‘halls of residence’ model - introducing secure, city centre student villages which benefit from en suite facilities.