Darlington Borough Council has launched proposals to develop a new Grade A office building at the heart in the town centre.
The scheme is the next phase of development at Feethams and closely follows the Council’s successful delivery of the Feethams leisure complex, Department of Education (DfE) building and Business Central in Darlington.
The 30,000 sq ft building could be completed as soon as autumn 2019 and will occupy a former car park site, a five minute walk from Darlington train station which provides access to the East Coast mainline and direct connections to London.
The completed building has potential to bring up to 300 new jobs to the town’s economy with the scheme targeting inward investment from corporate occupiers and ‘grow on’ space for SME’s. The town’s Business Central scheme opened in 2016 and is now 90% full demonstrating demand for high quality space within Darlington town centre.
The scheme is to be marketed by local property consultancy, Connect Property North East, together with Cushman & Wakefield, combining to deliver local, national and global market coverage. Work has already begun in seeking potential occupiers for the building ahead of construction.
Andrew Wilkinson, Director at Connect Property North East, commented: “Darlington has a strong indigenous business community but lacks high quality office space to retain its growing enterprises and attract new investment from business outside of the town. Feethams House will certainly address that shortage with a new standard of office accommodation for the town.”
Greg Davison, Head of Office Agency at Cushman & Wakefield’s Newcastle office said: “In Feethams House, we see a fantastic opportunity to deliver a scheme that can appeal to corporate occupiers of an international scale, as well as provide vital growth space for businesses established in the town to remain in the town. It is an important scheme for Darlington and plays to its many strengths.”
Councillor Chris Mc Ewan, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration commented: “Feethams House is an important part of our vison for Darlington, cementing its position as a key business destination within the Tees Valley. As a Local Authority, we are very proud of what we have achieved in recent years and this gives us a further platform for economic growth in the Borough and specifically it will help increase footfall in the Town Centre”
The masterplan for the site provides capacity for a further phase of equal scale, and the development is seen as a key driver in supporting the local economy, further increasing the vitality of the historic town centre.