Former Newcastle nightclub to be transformed into affordable housing
There's also going to be a new Enterprise Centre incorporated into it
The firm that's regenerating most of Newcastle town centre are being given an extra task of transforming an old nightclub.
Social impact developers Capital&Centric are working with Aspire Housing to reimagine the former Zanzibar nightclub off Brunswick Street and Hassell Street, creating 62 one and two-bed apartments.
The new community will also include lots of planting and greenery to help bring the space to life, alongside a new Enterprise Centre delivered on behalf of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council which will provide incubator space for new up and coming ventures.
Formerly the Crystal Ballrooms and then the Ritzy, the site was once a hot-spot for revelling locals but has been sat empty since Zanzibar closed in 2004. The plans to reboot the disused site will provide much needed affordable homes, with a planning application now submitted to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council (NULBC).
If approved, the team hope to start work preparing the site for its transformation later in the year.
Tom Wilmot, managing director at Capital&Centric:
“We’re transforming a number of unloved town centre locations in Newcastle-under-Lyme, taking buildings that are no longer fit for purpose and creating new communities of homes. We started out with a shopping centre, a car park, and derelict brownfield land - we’ve now turned our sights onto a nightclub.
“Working with Aspire Housing, we’ve come up with an imaginative way to deliver much needed affordable homes and give Zanzibar a new lease of life.”
The 'social impact' developer says it's part of their wider vision to give the town centre a major glow up – with plans to transform three town centre sites at the former York Place Shopping Centre (Astley Place), Midway car park (Carpark), and Ryecroft (Rye Park), recently granted unanimous approval by NULBC.
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