Is Sunderland a city of the future?

Ultimately it comes down to demand and viability, and I suppose what people deem as ambitious - however there is no point having plans that can’t be delivered. Hopefully this is just the first phase of a series of interventions in the city.


According to wiki Doxford international first building were complete in 1992, so must have been in development in the mid/late 80’s. Also the site was designated as an enterprise zone I think to attract private sector developers to construct them and obviously had business incentives. As I mentioned before at that time I’m not sure what land would have been available?
Well yes, but there has to be a certain amount of speculation. Otherwise cities the world over would never develop, people speculate on new projects. The gateshead quayside e.g. looked very very different 25-30 years ago and they speculated on some fabulous developments there, prior to that it was a deindustrialised riverside
 
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Well yes, but there has to be a certain amount of speculation. Otherwise cities the world over would never develop, people speculate on new projects. The gateshead quayside e.g. looked very very different 25-30 years ago and they speculated on some fabulous developments there, prior to that it was a deindustrialised riverside

They weren’t speculative office accommodation though were they?

The sage and Baltic were largely funded through central government and lottery funding. They are ran by the council as far as I am aware. I’m not aware that they created speculative office development down there and the conference centre concept must have been an ongoing project for the best part of 15 years.
 
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Well yes, but there has to be a certain amount of speculation. Otherwise cities the world over would never develop, people speculate on new projects. The gateshead quayside e.g. looked very very different 25-30 years ago and they speculated on some fabulous developments there, prior to that it was a deindustrialised riverside

I wouldn't compliment the Newcastle / Gateshead Quayside it's been a wasteland for decades and still is. There's massive sites near the arena and also behind the Sage such as the large old train station and depot site.

The North East has failed in all its cities hence we have the likes of Cobalt, Rainton and Quorum which should have never been built and were built when the cities were all struggling for attention but were all cash grabs. The first 2 from North Tyneside towards Newcastle and the last Sunderland vs County Durham. It's one massive reason why planning needs to be together than against each other.

Not to mention Silverlink, Kingston Park, Arnison, Dragonville and Washington Retail Park all being built or converted from bulky goods / DIY stores only at the same time putting nails in numerous towns and city centres locally.
 
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I wouldn't compliment the Newcastle / Gateshead Quayside it's been a wasteland for decades and still is. There's massive sites near the arena and also behind the Sage such as the large old train station and depot site.

The North East has failed in all its cities hence we have the likes of Cobalt, Rainton and Quorum which should have never been built and were built when the cities were all struggling for attention but were all cash grabs. The first 2 from North Tyneside towards Newcastle and the last Sunderland vs County Durham. It's one massive reason why planning needs to be together than against each other.

Not to mention Silverlink, Kingston Park, Arnison, Dragonville and Washington Retail Park all being built or converted from bulky goods / DIY stores only at the same time putting nails in numerous towns and city centres locally.

Problem with historic city centres is that they struggled to offer the right size and type of property for some retailers and hence why they moved out of town as sites were plentiful and easy to develop compared to town and city centres which would require acquiring leases and buildings as well as demolishing them.

I agree though that planners need to be given the ability to stop development more often. Feels like these days the rules are setup to make development easier.
 
Just reading a few articles on construction companies and Kier is mentioned as beginning work on the new eye hospital summer 2022, have they started yet? Haven't been round the town for a while
 
Just reading a few articles on construction companies and Kier is mentioned as beginning work on the new eye hospital summer 2022, have they started yet? Haven't been round the town for a while

Don’t think they’ve started it. Government cash for development in Sunderland city centre is not exactly forthcoming
 
Agree if this was a new hospital but as its a relocation of the existing one (the existing site must be worth a few quid) the site will be developed no problemo.
The current site is owned by the CofE and was given free to the NHS on proviso that the land was used exclusively for a hospital. Unfortunately sale proceeds will not come to the NHS. Or so I have been told.

They will go to the Church.
 

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