Gateshead Old Town Hall to be restored by Manchester developers

Hopes that a much-loved historic building on Tyneside will be restored have been raised after a developer agreed a deal to take over the site.

Manchester-based social impact developers Capital & Centric have acquired Gateshead ’s Old Town Hall, which stopped being the town’s main civic building in the 1980s and has has lain mostly empty in recent years.

The building - which was used for filming of the TV show Vera earlier this year - is Grade II listed and has provided a home for a number of social and cultural sector bodies in recent years while efforts have been made to find a permanent use for it. Plans for a dinosaur-themed attraction and an “Unnatural History Museum” emerged in 2018 but did not come to fruition.

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Capital & Centric, which is known for a number of key regeneration projects in Manchester and Liverpool, as well as further afield in the North and Midlands, has acquired the site as part of plans to expand into the North East, though details on what it plans to do with the building are still at an early stage.

Gateshead Council’s interim strategic director for economy, innovation and growth, Anneliese Hutchinson said: “Capital and Centric’s record of accomplishment in developing historic buildings nationwide by breathing new life into them speaks volumes and we look forward to hopefully working with them to regenerate our town centre. The Old Town Hall is a jewel in the crown for Gateshead as it is the only surviving purpose-built Victorian town hall in Tyne and Wear and is one of only five comparable listed Victorian town halls in the North East.

“The Grade II listed building was the council headquarters for almost 120 years, before the council chamber, civic suite and most council offices relocated to the new Civic Centre in 1987. The building has latterly been in use by a few social and cultural sector bodies, but it has always been our intention to look at a more permanent solution.”

Capital & Centric’s founders Tim Heatley and Adam Higgins have featured on a number of TV programmes, most notably Channel 4’s Big Interiors Battle. They have carried out a number of reinventions of old buildings and brownfield sites, including the former Littlewoods building on Liverpool and the Jenga Hotel in Manchester.

John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital & Centric said: “Gateshead has huge potential and the council have real ambition for the future of the town centre. We’re proud of our track record in turning around problem brownfield sites and are actively looking to repeat our success here in the North East. For us, it’s not just about bricks and mortar. It’s all about creating genuine neighbourhoods that pique interest from a design perspective and encourage a sense of pride locally.

“We’re in discussions with the council about getting involved in key sites in Gateshead and things are looking promising. As soon as we can, we’ll reveal more about what’s in store as part of community consultation with local people.”