Nottingham City Council’s plans to transform a disused building into a new creative hub in the city have taken an important step forward, with preparatory works getting underway on the site ahead of the appointment of a main contractor for the project.
The £6m project to regenerate the site at 1a Dakeyne Street in Sneinton, funded jointly by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City Council, is part of the city’s Growth Plan, which identifies creative industries as a focus for new jobs and investment.
The funding will be used to transform the disused building into a hub for small and medium sized digital and creative businesses – providing workshops, offices and studio units alongside meeting rooms and networking spaces.
Since approval of the ERDF funding at the end of 2013, plans for the site have been progressing, including discussions with creative organisations indicative of the industries the City Council want to attract to the redeveloped site.
Any businesses interested in taking up a unit in the refurbished Dakeyne Street building should contact Jonathan Jones in Nottingham City Council’s Property team on jonathan.jones@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or 0115 876 3030.
The new creative hub will complement the redeveloped Sneinton Market, where contractors are already on site to refurbish the building units into workshops and studios for use by creative enterprises.
The redeveloped Dakeyne Street and Sneinton Market buildings are both due to be completed by the end of 2015.
Councillor Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “Alongside the redevelopment of Sneinton Market, these plans for a creative hub in Dakeyne Street are an important part of our plans to regenerate this area of the city.
“As part of the city’s Creative Quarter, these facilities will play a significant role in supporting the creation and growth of creative industries, which are already a significant growth sector for our economy, creating good quality jobs for local people.”
The enabling works at Dakeyne Street are being undertaken by Wates Construction, through a framework contract with Nottingham City Council.
The redevelopment of Sneinton Market and 1a Dakeyne Street are part of a broader programme of regeneration activity to Build a Better Nottingham, which currently also includes work to improve the public realm in the Creative Quarter, more than £750m worth of investment in transport infrastructure across Nottingham and the biggest council home building programme in the city in 40 years, with more than 400 new council homes being built across the city.