Ouseburn flat development planned for disused industrial buildings

Developers behind the revitalisation of a number of Newcastle's neglected properties have applied to transform a string of disused buildings.

The company Property @Lime St has submitted plans for a housing complex in Ouseburn Valley.

The scheme would see run down industrial buildings on Lime Street demolished and replaced with 57 flats.

The company's directors are behind the Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park and By The River Brew Co. in Gateshead.

The Ouseburn development would have three shops at ground level and public art commissioned for the building's four residential blocks, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Planning documents submitted to Newcastle City Council said the developers had "the aim of not doing harm to the significance of the site, its setting and the wider conservation area, where possible".

They wanted to make "a positive contribution to the ongoing sustainable regeneration of the Ouseburn Valley", the application said.

Existing buildings on the site, most recently used as a storage and distribution space for Wylam Brewery, did not offer "significant evidential, historic or communal value", it said.

Formerly an industrial hub, the historically important Ouseburn Valley has latterly attracted bars, restaurants and small businesses working in the creative industries.

In 2021, it was voted 29th out of the 49 coolest neighbourhoods in the world (ahead of districts in Paris, Tokyo and Madrid) by Time Out magazine.

Property @Lime St said the reuse of existing buildings by small-scale independents had produced an "irregular and characterful patchwork of ground floor elevations" and its proposal sought to "add to this character".

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