Discover Sunniside
This is a prominent, tight knit, urban area in the eastern part of the city centre, containing many historic buildings. Great progress has already been made towards restoring the area to its former glory, with new public space, offices, stylish homes, artist’s studios as well as niche shops, bars and restaurants, helping to establish Sunniside as a fashionable and thriving quarter of the city.
Proposal:
- 7 ha Brownfield land regenerated
- Approximately 2,400 new jobs
- New homes
- New offices
- Hotel & leisure space
- Retail, food & drink space
Spearheading this important regeneration project is Sunniside Partnership. Set up by Sunderland
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Sunderland City Council One North East and the Homes and Communities Agency (formerly English Partnerships) in 2003, the Partnership has helped to attract over £110m of private investment into the area to date.
Sunniside is ideally located to become a recognised business location, primarily for small businesses, professional consultancies, media and other creative activities. Over four years the Sunniside Commercial Property Grant Scheme assisted 26 businesses and landlords in the area to refurbish their properties through approximately £1.5m of grants.
A strong and sizeable business community is growing in the area, adding to the vibrancy of Sunniside. This blends with a niche retail market, with emphasis on design, fashion, art, antiques and ‘lifestyle' products. Its uniqueness and variety is already beginning to draw visitors from the wider city area and further afield. The regeneration of Sunniside has also proved a huge draw for artists, with rolling art projects taking place in and around the award-winning Sunniside Gardens on a regular basis. Sunniside Gardens is a £2m project that was completed in March 2007. It has since become the heart of this revitalised, cultural city quarter. Further £2.2 million of public realm improvements are now underway along the principal city centre routes into Sunniside.
In addition to this a £6m arts and business centre,
thePlace
, was also completed in summer 2008, providing new artist studios, exhibition and performance space, offices and a café.
Following the adoption of the Sunniside Planning and Design Framework, a number of strategic sites have been acquired. A comprehensive demolition programme is now underway to provide new opportunities to introduce family housing into Sunderland’s city centre.
Plans have also been announced for a £10m software centre at Tavistock Place. The proposed 53,000 sq ft development will include space for more than 60 businesses and could create up to 140 jobs. It is being part financed with a £2.6m contribution from Sunderland City Council and a £4.75m grant from the European Regional Development Fund, secured through One North East, which is also contributing £2.95m to the project.
Sunniside Partnership is working with stakeholders including City Centre Management and Business Link to support local businesses in the area during the current market conditions. The ‘Explore Sunniside’ marketing campaign was launched at the end of 2008 in a bid to raise the profile of the area.
For further information on Sunniside visit
www.sunnisidepartnership.co.uk