The developers of Milburngate welcomed Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham to Durham City’s Riverside to see the progress of their landmark regeneration project.
Photo caption: Back row left to right: Kingsley Smith (Clerk to the Lord-Lieutenant), Tony Forester (Durham County Council), Ben Sykes (FaulknerBrowns, Durham Riverside architects), and Kevin Edworthy (Durham County Council). Front Row: Ian Crampton (HM Passport Office), Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham, Mrs Sue Snowdon and Neil McMillan (Durham Riverside developers)
Milburngate will feature an Everyman Cinema and a range of premium restaurants and bars. The development will also include high-specification apartments and high-quality, energy-efficient office space.
Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham, Mrs Sue Snowdon, said: “I am extremely impressed with what I have seen and this development is a major component in the economic development of the county and region.”
Christopher Ives, Development Director at Carillion, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Lord-Lieutenant to the Riverside to see how we are transforming this important part of the city. Durham is a wonderful place, which has already benefited from the regeneration of Freemans Reach and will be further enhanced by the creation of Milburngate.”
Mrs Sue Snowdon, who is Her Majesty The Queen’s representative in the county, was given a tour of Durham Riverside, which included the completed regeneration of Freemans Reach and an update on the progress of the demolition of Milburngate House on the opposite bank of the River Wear.
Freemans Reach has become the new home of Her Majesty’s Passport Office and National Savings and Investments after both organisations vacated Milburngate House, helping to retain more than 1,000 jobs in the city.
It was developed by a consortium of Carillion, Arlington Real Estate and Richardson’s Capital and includes new public areas, a riverside walk, which has opened up this part River Wear to visitors for the first time, and a hydro-turbine that uses the power of the river to generate electricity for the National Grid.
The move became a catalyst for the consortium’s regeneration of the Milburngate House site, which is being transformed into a new, £150m living, working and leisure destination, Milburngate.