£75M PLAN FOR HOTEL AND HOMES BY CANAL
And water taxis will help to take fans to the Bet365 Stadium
AWARD-WINNING developers Capital & Centric have been signed up to bring forward £75 million plans for a key regeneration site – including new homes, a hotel and a water taxi.
The Manchester-based firm will work with Stoke-on-trent City Council to redevelop Swift House, next to Stoke Station, into a new urban quarter to be known as The Goods Yard.
The scheme is set to include around 180 new homes, a 150-bed hotel, 25,000 sq ft of workspaces, and 10,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space, including a canalside bar or restaurant.
There are also ambitions for a water taxi service linking the site with the bet365 Stadium.
Swift House would be demolished under the plans, but its locally-listed vaulted basement would be retained and transformed into a workspace and leisure venue called Vaults Warehouse. There would also be an outdoor public space, with the scheme as a whole helping to connect the canal with the station and the wider area.
The council estimates that it will cost up to £75 million to redevelop the whole site, and it is not yet known how the work will be funded, although the aim is for a ‘commercially viable’ development.
Capital & Centric, featured in the BBC2 documentary Manctopia, currently has five projects under construction elsewhere in the country, totalling £500 million of investment.
Co-founder Tim Heatley said: “We’re super excited to be undertaking our first project in Stoke-on-trent. We’ve got the opportunity to create something really special here that can transform this part of the city.
“There are a few things about this site which really appeal to us. It has the right scale for us to do something with. It’s also got a really interesting location, next to the railway line, the canal and a busy dual carriageway.
“It’s a prominent site which is very accessible – which helps with making this a sustainable, energy efficient development.”
Mr Heatley believes making better use of canalside locations in Stokeon-trent is important for the city’s regeneration.
He added: “Manchester used to have a similar problem, with buildings turning their back on the canal. The canals were seen as something from the past, rather than important heritage assets.
“With The Goods Yard, you could have pontoons on the canal with space for a water taxi, and barges with various uses.”
The city council initially launched its ambitions for the Swift House site in 2018.
Capital & Centric will draw up more detailed plans following public consultation, and work on the project could start as early as next summer. The development is expected to take two-and-a-half years to complete.
City council leader Abi Brown said: “It’s location, next to so many key sites and the superb road, rail and canal links, make the development an excellent opportunity for a range of occupiers and a true once-in-alifetime opportunity for Stoke-ontrent to have something bold and unique.
“This will be an iconic and important development, not just for Stoke-on-trent but the whole of the Midlands, that will make people sit up and take notice of the resurgence that is happening here.
“A waterside food and drink offer with mooring facilities for passing canal boats would be a Premier League attraction for any city, and it’s exactly what we want and what we deserve.”