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THE OFFICE BUILDINGS UNDER CONSTRUCTION BEHIND BANK HOUSE ON PILGRIM STREET WILL BE LET TO THE DWP 15:33, 30 Jan 2025 Work is under way to create a second major Government building in

Newcastle city centre which is set to become home to hundreds of workers. It has been confirmed that construction teams are now working on the creation of Pilgrim Place 1 + 2 - new

multimillion-pound office buildings set close to Bank House in Pilgrim Street. Property agents have announced that a major pre-letting deal has been struck with DWP, which will take over

Pilgrim Place 1 to create a DWP Service and Support Centre, which is planned to open in 2027. The agreement follows the recent arrival of two tower cranes at the site, adjacent to the

14-storey Bank House building, which kickstarted the Pilgrim Street regeneration and is now 75% let. Global real estate firm Avison Young said the DWP deal at the new building, which has

been designed by Ryder Architecture and will extend to 173,245sq ft over nine storeys – enough workspace for more than 1,700 workers. Meanwhile, the adjacent Pilgrim Place 2 building, which

will serve up 90,000sqft of space, is being developed and marketed as speculative Grade A office accommodation by the developer Reuben Brothers (Newcastle) Ltd. The overall scheme will

incorporate a plaza, public realm improvements and car parking. Bowmer and Kirkland is the main contractor. Avison Young acted for Reuben Brothers (Newcastle) Ltd and BNP Paribas acted for

DWP in respect of the pre-letting of the building. Tony Wordsworth, director at Avison Young, said: “This major letting represents a tremendous vote of confidence in the strength of the

Newcastle city centre office marketplace. The earlier speculative construction of Bank House brought forward high-quality Grade A office accommodation, which is now 75% let to a wide

selection of professional and corporate occupiers. “The developer, ourselves and joint agent, Knight Frank are keen to secure occupiers for the Pilgrim Place 2 building, which will complete

the Pilgrim Place element of the comprehensive regeneration scheme.” Chris Turnbull, principal at Avison Young who is project managing the development, said: “There are already good signs of

progress on site with the two tower cranes supplying the emerging cores of both buildings which, when complete in 2027, will procure the comprehensive development of Pilgrim Place, the

southern block of the Pilgrim Street regeneration area.” Article continues below The Pilgrim Street regeneration project – a far-reaching project set to cost more than £300m – was first

unveiled in 2019 and was set in motion by the decision to start with the speculative development of the 120,000 sqft Bank House office building on the site of the former Bank of England.

While work was taking shape on the first phase of the project, HMRC announced in November 2021 that Newcastle’s Pilgrim’s Quarter, part of the Pilgrim Street development, would become a

Government Hub for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the North East. It will provide office accommodation for approximately 9,000 HMRC staff and is scheduled to be handed over by the

developer for tenant fit out this October. Meanwhile, building works are well advanced to convert the former fire station and adjoining police station into a boutique hotel, to be operated

by Hotel Gotham, with works scheduled to complete in April. The Grade II Listed Worswick Chambers has also been refurbished for leisure uses, and is currently being fitted out by the

operator Stack with a proposed opening date in spring.