A prime development plot in Newcastle has come back on the market after plans for retirement housing collapsed.
Newcastle City Council put the site of its former nurseries at Jesmond Dene up for auction three years ago as part of its programme to cash in on redundant land.
Developers PegasusLife had been named as joint bidders in a deal rumoured to be around £9m. It said it wanted to build 91 "later living" apartments and 18 executive homes, as well as working with nearby hotel Jesmond Dene House to create a new spa.
But now Pegasus has confirmed that it has pulled out of the development and the council is planning to re-market the key plot.
Andy Barrett, land director at Pegasus, said: “In late 2017 PegasusLife, alongside other joint venture partners, were chosen as the preferred bidder for the site of the former Jesmond Dene Nurseries.
“The aim was to deliver a mixture of retirement properties, executive family homes, and additional facilities for Jesmond Dene House Hotel.
“Regrettably it has not been possible to make development plans for the site work, and as a result we are not proceeding with the acquisition of the site.
“We remain committed to providing specialist housing for the over-60s in Jesmond and demolition work has been completed at the nearby Eskdale Terrace site.”
The initial plans put forward by PegasusLife involved restoring stables on the land to provide 30 additional hotel bedrooms for Jesmond Dene House, as well as a spa facility.
The hotel’s managing director, however, remains upbeat and hopeful that the it will secure its longed-for expansion.
Peter Candler, managing director of Jesmond Dene House, said: “We remain committed to the expansion of the hotel by refurbishment of the listed stables and some additional land for new development to the west of Jesmond Dene House. This will be a once and for all opportunity for the hotel to achieve its long term objectives and we hope and expect that the council will support us in this ambition.”
A council spokesman added: “Plans for a mixed used development on the site of the former Jesmond Dene Nurseries will now no longer proceed after the developer said it did not intend to proceed with the acquisition of the site.
“Naturally this is disappointing to us however when the site was originally brought to the market there was considerable interest from other developers and we are confident this will remain the case.
“The site will be re-marketed for sale in the next few months in order to find a new developer which will bring significant benefits to the city.”
