The scheme, which has taken five years to come to fruition, is being developed by Darlington Borough Council and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) working in partnership with housing and regeneration specialists, Keepmoat Homes.
The first phase of construction on the Central Park development in Darlington will see 332 new homes built including 20-homes for affordable rent, a major new park, water features and ponds.
Regeneration and housing specialist, Keepmoat Homes, has completed contracts with the Council and HCA and will deliver the residential element of the project. The first phase of the development also includes space for a local centre which will be located at the northern gateway and the Council intends to market this once the residential development has gained momentum.
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The £170m, 30-hectare development, is located close to the town centre, off Haughton Road near the main railway station. The main site entrance is beside Darlington College and Teesside University.
The second phase of the development will also see the creation of hundreds of new jobs for local people, around 300,000 sq ft of prime office and retail floorspace, a hotel as well as a further 180 new homes.
On the South of the site, new office space will be provided in a state of the art business incubation accommodation for new and growing small to medium sized businesses in Darlington, located within the Central Park Enterprise Zone.
The facility, which will provide sufficient space for up to 52 businesses, will be part-funded by the HCA and funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme. Construction of this flagship building is anticipated to start in Spring 2014.
Structural road works have already commenced, which will see improvements to the main entrance and the creation of a new roundabout next to the college and university buildings.
(CD/JP)
