'Financially unviable' £200m regeneration of Gresham paused

A FLAGSHIP regeneration project has been put on hold after being described as "financially unviable" at this time.

- By DANIEL HODGSON

Computer-generated images showed the vision for Gresham including, inset below, the plans for a hotel

The Gresham-based development, which was given the name Crown Square this spring, saw work on the proposed hotel, student accommodation and build-to-rent apartments paused in October.

While Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) board members were told about this latest development at the end of October, it has only just now come out into the public domain, with agenda papers for next week's MDC meeting released, detailing the trials and tribulations that the project has faced over the past many months.

A joint statement from the various stakeholders took aim at "national economic headwinds", but confirmed that the organisations remain "fully committed to bringing real and lasting change to Gresham".

Previously, the developers behind the £200m project said the hotel should be completed by mid-2027, while they hoped that the rest of the phase one work will be done and dusted by early 2028.

The ambitious regeneration scheme has been described as the largest single investment in Middlesbrough in a generation.

MDC has been working with a development partner - Tarras Park Properties Limited (TPPL) - on the project since late 2023 and a consultation was undertaken regarding the plans in July 2024.

More detailed plans and computer generated imagery of the proposals were released in October 2024, and it was reported that Fairfield by Marriott was primed to be the newest name on Middlesbrough's skyline with building work on the Gresham hotel project forecast to start in early summer 2025.