Orbit Homes has unveiled its plans for the £70million St Anne’s Quarter development in Norwich.
The developer shared details of its vision to transform the site in the city centre into a high-quality residential-led quarter at a public information event in Norwich last week.
St Anne’s Quarter will comprise 437 new homes, 22,000 square foot of commercial space, and a central plaza area along the riverfront, which includes a landscaped open space. The plans will see the first homes due for completion in summer 2017, offering a mix of studio, one, and two bedroom apartments and houses, as well as eight commercial units.
A unique development for Orbit Homes, the site will be the developer’s first to offer all four tenures of market sale, shared ownership, and both affordable and private rent.
Maggie McCann, development director for Orbit Homes, said: “We know there is a lot of public interest in the site, with it having stood empty for almost 20 years, so we were delighted to share our plans with the local community.
“We have committed to spending £70million to regenerate St Anne’s Quarter into a mixed-tenure sustainable development that will provide new homes to meet need and aspiration in Norwich. Orbit has a target of building 12,000 new homes by 2020 and this is a key site in helping us reaching that goal.”
Ahead of construction, Orbit Homes appointed Norwich Property Services (NPS) Archaeology to excavate the site, ensuring any historical finds are recorded and preserved.
With the 18-week programme of archaeology now coming to an end, Orbit Homes is currently in the process of appointing a building contractor. Construction is expected to begin in early 2016.
Over 350 members of the public attended the event, which offered them the opportunity to find out more about the future of St Anne’s Quarter. Alongside detailed building plans and designs, the expected development timescales and many of the archaeological findings uncovered over the summer were shared. Staff members involved in the site, such as the construction team, architects and archaeologists were also on hand to answer questions.
