Work is set to get underway at York Central, thanks to a vital infrastructure contract awarded to John Sisk and Son Ltd.
Homes England has appointed the contractor to deliver over £100M of vital infrastructure at the regeneration site. With work expected to begin imminently, this contract marks another significant milestone for unlocking the city-centre brownfield site, which has been stalled for more than forty years.
York Central is one of the UK’s largest regeneration sites. Situated at the heart of the city adjacent to York Station, the 45-hectare site offers a unique opportunity to transform underused brownfield land into a vibrant and distinctive new mixed use neighbourhood – complete with residential, cultural, recreational, commercial and outdoor amenity spaces.
Over the next three years, John Sisk and Son will put in place the key infrastructure needed to enable this transformation. This includes the construction of a new road bridge over the East Coast Main Line railway, which features pedestrian and cycle lanes segregated from the carriageway, and a new pedestrian and cycle footbridge will also be added to the existing Water End Bridge.
John Sisk and Son will also provide the earthworks and utility works for the entire site.
This infrastructure work will make further development at York Central possible, which, when complete, will provide up to 2,500 homes, 20% of which will be affordable, and over one million sq. ft. of commercial space for offices, retail and leisure, providing a significant boost for the local economy. It will also see improved connectivity and access, as well as significant high quality public realm and open spaces, including an urban park.
Peter Freeman, Chair of Homes England, said: “This marks a significant moment for York Central. We know what a transformational impact urban regeneration schemes such as this can have on a place and the benefits it will offer York’s community. That’s why we’ve partnered with Network Rail to help unlock this long-stalled site.
“The delivery of crucial infrastructure will help achieve that, bringing ours and our partners’ ambitions for this underutilised area another step closer to reality. It’s brilliant to see the plans starting to come to fruition.”
The funding for the infrastructure works has been secured through the government’s Housing Infrastructure Grant (£77.1m), the City of York Council’s Enterprise Zone Fund (£35m) and from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (£23.5m).
Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council said: “This is another major step forward for York Central, one of the most important and exciting regeneration sites in the country, building on the site preparation works delivered by City of York Council and the partnership.
“It’s excellent news that construction works are moving forward to make the project, which has been a decades long held ambition, into reality. We want to ensure that this positive progress continues to unlock the site’s enormous potential and deliver economic growth, community space and homes that York needs, all within the heart of the city.”
The contract with Sisk follows news that Homes England and Network Rail has officially launched the procurement process to secure a strategic development partner to bring forward York Central, supported by JLL.
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