Newcastle-under-Lyme's Sky Building construction resumes
BBCWork is resuming after a six-year pause on the construction of a prominent building in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
The Sky Building was left half-built when its previous owners went into administration - but now a firm which specialises in turning around failed developments has taken it on.
New owner Integritas Property Group Ltd is now referring to the building as Deakin's Yard.
The firm hopes the building will be completed and opened in September 2024.
Integritas chief executive and founder, Mitchell Walsh, said his company was looking forward to finishing the landmark scheme.
"I am extremely excited to complete the acquisition of the former Sky Building, now Deakin's Yard," he said.
"Integritas has a reputation for helping with schemes that have had issues along the way and we are delighted to not only help the vast majority of the original purchasers recover funds but to also deliver a landmark scheme that will bring a number of jobs and opportunities for the local town and residents."
The site, formerly home to the Jubilee Baths, was sold by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in 2015.
'A blight and eyesore'
It should have opened as a student housing complex in 2017, but work ground to a halt in 2018 and there has since been a series of legal issues surrounding its ownership and investment.
Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell welcomed news that work will now recommence.
He said: "The Sky Building is just over the road from my office, and I know what a blight and eyesore it has been for everybody."
He said, as a privately-owned development, it was not the council's job to intervene or spend taxpayers' money on.
He added: "A private-sector sale is great news, and I look forward to swift progress being made on the site."
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