Kinetic acquired the lease for the Gateshead Town Hall site at the heart of Tyneside,
close to the Tyne Bridge. Their proposals were originally for the development of a
museum within the Old Town Hall building.
The site is complex including some significant Listed Buildings and surface level car
parks, in an excellent location at the heart of Tyneside and near Gateshead’s main
attractions – the Sage and the Baltic; and the public transport interchange.
The first issue was to appraise the merits of the business case for the Museum in a
post Covid environment. It was clear that this was going to be commercially very
challenging.
Working with Kinetic, we helped establish that the site was of much greater strategic
value in the wider regeneration of Central Gateshead.The first objective was to build a new relationship with the Council (freeholder) as the buildings on the site are of critical civic importance and politically sensitive. As part of this WhatIf Group brought in a development partner, BCEGI.
We have also been seeking to identify suitable end users for the site.
Subsequently we have been working on master planning and business cases for the
site to demonstrate its viability for mixed use development, including respecting the
important heritage components. The council are considering these proposals with a
view that more detailed costed plans are developed in late 2023.
