Former Newcastle-under-Lyme nightclub set for major overhaul
A disused corner of Newcastle-under-Lyme is set to undergo a radical transformation into a neighbourhood of new affordable homes.
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.”
It’s part of the social impact developer’s 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.
The team are creating up to 328 homes and 11,150 sq. ft of spaces for businesses across the three locations, which includes repurposing much of the existing fabric of the former shopping centre and Midway car park.
Capital&Centric has a national reputation for turning unloved buildings and derelict land into homes, workspaces, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants – often embracing eye-catching architecture with energy-efficiency built in. They have delivered award-winning neighbourhoods, including Kampus and Crusader in Manchester city centre.
Capital&Centric continue to invest £3million a week in regeneration and are currently live on eight construction sites as they continue their expansion into new towns and cities across the UK, like Wolverhampton, Gateshead, and Sheffield. The developer recently announced its biggest project to date – delivering 2,000 homes for the UK’s largest new town, Northstowe in Cambridgeshire.