Affordable housing planned for part of Virgin media site
PARTIAL DEMOLITION WOULD CLEAR WAY FOR 82 FLATS AND FAMILY HOMES
DEVELOPERS have revealed plans to revamp an office site where hundreds of Virgin Media staff used to work.
Back in 2018, Virgin Media announced its plan to cut its Nottingham-based workforce under a shake-up of its regional customer operations hubs.
Up to 210 staff had worked at the Diamond Plaza offices, off Daleside Road, between Sneinton and Colwick, but jobs were transferred and some staff relocated under the transition.
Two interlinked buildings are located off the Daleside Road plot – and one of the properties houses Virgin Media’s technical equipment which supplies the East Midlands region with fibre optic broadband.
Up to seven full-time members of Virgin staff are employed at the site to manage the technical hub, which will be retained.
But demolition is proposed for other parts of the site so 82 houses and flats can be built.
Allan Fisher, director of development and assets at the Nottingham Community Housing Association [NCHA], which is behind the redevelopment plans, said the project would revamp a “currently disused area of the city”.
He said: “We have applied for planning permission at the site off Daleside Road in Colwick.
“If planning permission is approved this will be a great opportunity for Nottingham residents to access affordable accommodation close to the city centre.
“The completed homes, developed by NCHA, and designed by our in-house architects, Pelham, will also be owned and managed by us. “It forms part of our commitment to build 420 new homes across the East Midlands each year for the next five years.”
He added: “The proposed scheme of over 80 new homes will offer a mix of one-bed flats and two- and threebedroomed family homes, on offer for both shared ownership and affordable rent. “It’s an exciting proposition that will transform a currently disused area of the city.” He added: “If successful in planning, we hope to begin the build by mid next year with a view to complete the homes by late 2023/ early 2024.”
The buildings on-site include Diamond Plaza 1 and 2, with areas for car parking.
Diamond Plaza 1 to the west includes Virgin’s technical hub and three floors of open plan office space.
The second building has two floors of offices – and all the offices are vacant.
Diamond Plaza 2 would be knocked down and the east wing of Diamond Plaza 1 is also set for demolition under the vision to build new homes.
New access arrangements for the site are in the pipeline – and parking spaces will be created for prospective residents.
The plans have been submitted to Nottingham City Council for consideration.
Meanwhile, families have been moving into a new NCHA development that’s transformed a derelict factory site in Mapperley.
This will be a great opportunity for residents to access affordable accommodation close to the city centre
Allan Fisher