Plans for a ground-breaking 11-storey city centre residential development have been given the go-ahead today – the first of its kind in Stoke-on-Trent. The city council planning committee has approved Genr8 Developments’ mixed-use apartment and office scheme at Smithfield.
Genr8 is working in partnership with the authority’s housing company Fortior Homes, which will own the site. The scheme will now vastly expand and improve the quality of the city living offer in Stoke-on-Trent and bring about a huge impact on the streetscape and economy.
The Smithfield residential scheme will provide 277 ‘build to rent’ flats, the largest single apartment development in Stoke-on-Trent. Designed by Cartwright Pickard, and sitting at the heart of the Smithfield development alongside a new Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, this scheme will provide a residential offer not previously available in the city.
As the first ‘build to rent’ development in Stoke-on-Trent it will set a benchmark for high quality city living developments not only in the Midlands, but also in sub-regional cities across the UK. The scheme includes substantial additional amenity provision for the prospective tenants, including cycle storage, function rooms, a roof terrace with barbecue facilities and a contemporary private, landscaped courtyard.
The scheme will deliver a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments all with contemporary and high quality fittings throughout. The design will reflect Stoke-on-Trent as a place with a history to celebrate while meeting the needs of the 21st-century tenant.
The first residential block will deliver 151 apartments for Fortior Homes with amenity space and communal gardens. There are also leisure and commercial units planned for the ground floor, including a gym and office space. Work is due to start on site in early 2018 with an anticipated completion date of the end of 2019. The second approved building of 126 apartments will form part of a future phase of development.
Consultation for the development took place in July 2017 and the planning application for the two blocks was submitted to the city council in September.
Fortior Homes is a private housing company established by the council to deliver high quality homes that address identified gaps in the private sector housing market. Delivering this scheme through Fortior Homes will generate income for the council and form part of a programme of ongoing activity in years to come, with this proposed scheme being an exciting early example.
Richard Ingham, partner at Genr8 Developments, said: “This is another huge step forwards in the delivery of Smithfield. Having a high quality build to rent apartment offer is key to the ongoing regeneration of the city centre and the wider Stoke-on-Trent economy.
“We are hugely excited to be commencing, early in 2018, the first 151 unit build to rent phase and the Hilton Garden Inn, which will deliver a further transformation at Smithfield.”
Councillor Randy Conteh, the city council’s cabinet member for housing, communities and safer city, said: “It’s fantastic news that the plans have been approved, meaning we are a huge step closer to improving our city living offer. These high quality apartments will give the city centre permanent residents, who will increase footfall, support the local businesses and lead to further investment.
“We hope that Smithfield will be the first of many schemes we’re considering and are confident that it will give the delivery of our future development strategy a positive kick-start.”
The first phase of Smithfield Stoke-on-Trent, which includes 210,000 sq ft of office space – now known as One Smithfield and Two Smithfield – was completed in August 2015 and is occupied by the city council along with private sector companies. Further phases are in the pipeline, including a 140-bedroom Hilton Garden Inn – which received planning permission in July 2017 – and the next phase of offices.