A £60 million (US$77 million) skyscraper will be built on the Gateshead Quayside — despite concerns from some councilors over its conservative design.  
Developers were given the green light by Gateshead Council’s planning committee on Wednesday morning, 31 October, 2018, to press ahead with proposals for a 20-story housing block comprising 317 flats on the corner of Mill Road and Hawks Road.

 Local authority planning officers had expressed support for the scheme, having accepted developer Elliot Group’s claims that the profits from the project will be too small for it to make the usually required payment towards affordable housing in the borough.

Coun. Lynne Caffrey said: “This is a major development, 317 units, and we are being told that the developer’s profits on it are not sufficient to contribute to affordable housing in Gateshead. I find that quite unbelievable.” 

Council officers said that the fact that the developer is facing high upfront costs and is taking a risk on the tower block justified the view that an affordable housing contribution would render it unviable. 

They added that the design had been carefully considered and improved by their requests to use more glass on the upper floors of the building, which is 20 stories at its highest point and drops down to 15 and then nine floors. 

Coun. Patterson, who expressed concerns that the market for which the project is intended may not be strong enough, was the only committee member to vote against the plans, with 10 in favor, and seven abstaining. 

Construction is expected to start Spring 2019 on the building, which is the first major residential scheme to be built on the Gateshead Quayside since the financial crash of 2008. 

Elliot Group founder Elliot Lawless said: “We’re delighted to make our debut on Tyneside. It’s a thriving market with a great cultural scene and to be next to both the Baltic and Sage puts us right in the thick of things. 

 “The views across to the Quayside and the city center are wonderful. Newcastle’s hilly topography makes for a really interesting cityscape and our residents are going to enjoy identifying landmarks and buildings they know.” 

The tower block is a redesigned version of a previously approved building scheme that would have incorporated 366 flats, 244 for students. 

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