Samuel Young, part of our planning team here at Planning & Design recently attended one of the Marketing Derby Insider Tours. The aim of the tour is to showcase the regeneration and development happening in Derby’s city centre. This walking tour takes in key developments including the new Becketwell Performance Venue, the Friar Gates Good Yard residential development, The Condor buy to let apartment scheme, the redevelopment of the Victorian Market Hall and the Nightingale Quarter development from Wavensmere Homes, on the site of the old Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.
Marketing Derby’s Insider Tour
Planning & Design Practice are proud to have been a Marketing Derby Bondholder for just over a decade and have supported many new developments in and around the city centre. Bondholder connectivity can bring with it new clientele and connections through a network of different company’s all with the shared ambition to build a better city centre for the Derby.
Marketing Derby’s Marketing and Communications Manager Andrew Lowe presented the tour which highlighted the inward investment in the inner-city region, showcasing some of the key schemes in Derby’s investment pipeline.
I was personally inspired by the amount of Brownfield sites such as the Nightingale Quarter and The Condor which are being transformed from redundant disused wastelands to green residential spaces providing new homes, and new purpose within the city. Marketing Derby believe that upwards of 1000 extra people are living within the DE1 postcode due to these recent developments and this is leading to much greater inner-city footfall and spending, greatly improving Derby’s economy.
The new developments we saw on the tour include the recently completed Fox House, a £35 million building. Part of the Nightingale Quarter, Wavensmere Home’s residential redevelopment of the former DRI Site, Fox House contains 209 apartments and is the second stand-alone apartment building to complete on the site.
We also visited The Condor. Built by Grainger Plc as part of the first phase of the £200 million Becketwell regeneration scheme, The Condor features 259 new build-to-rent apartments. Located on the former Debenhams site in Victoria Street, The Condor is named after one of the first engines built by Rolls-Royce in 1918, the Rolls-Royce Condor III.
Part of the Becketwell regeneration scheme, it was exciting to see that work on the the new Performance Venue was so advanced. The 3,500-capacity entertainment and events venue, is owned by Derby City Council but will be and leased to and operated by ASM Global. The venue is scheduled for completion in January 2025, with construction work being carried out by Bowmer + Kirkland who also worked on Moorways Sports Village and Water Park. Creating a new city centre destination, the venue will prove an exciting addition to Derby’s cultural offering, as will the refurbished and refocused Derby Market Hall which was also a stop on the tour.
Whether you are a member of the public interested in Derby’s new developments, looking for investment opportunities or a Bondholder yourself the free to attend Insider tour is a perfect opportunity to find out more about what is happening in Derby City. The next Insider tour will be the 19th of June and anybody who would like to join can do so via Marketing Derby’s Website or by visiting Derby City Lab located on the second floor of Derbion. The award winning City Lab, where the Insider tour begins is a hub for engaging the wider community in better understanding the evolution of the city and the investment pipeline, and showcases Derby’s 300-year innovation history and hosts a range of exhibitions and discussion groups focused on ideas to regenerate Derby.
The Insider tour is certain to make you feel a great sense of pride when traversing the city streets. The new investment, infrastructure and development alongside the already hopeful employment prospects will transform the city of Derby, bringing more residential development into the city and therefore a thriving urban economy.
Samuel Young, Planning Assistant, Planning & Design Practice Ltd
Planning and Design Practice LTD are a multi-disciplinary practice of Architects, Heritage Specialists and Planning Consultants, working to successfully achieve planning permission on an extensive variety of sites from major developments to householder applications such as extensions or changes of use. If you have a project, you would like our assistance with do not hesitate to get in touch on 01332 347371 or email enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk.
