Network Rail has launched the search for a partner to work with to develop a 70 acre site, known as the Chaddesden Triangle, located on the edge of Pride Park in Derby.
The land, which is owned freehold by Network Rail, is the largest brownfield site in Derby. It has been identified by Derby City Council as a strategic development site and regeneration priority.
Network Rail will work with the selected development partner from the production of a master plan through to the planning process, completion of the site and the securing of occupiers for individual plots.
Access to the site is from Wyvern Way off Pride Park. The land is bound by the River Derwent to the west, Wyvern Way to the east and the railway to the south.
Proposals for the site will be considered on the grounds of overall benefit to Derby as a whole.
Stuart Kirkwood, head of development for Network Rail said:
“We are always working to identify development opportunities where we can work in partnership with the private sector to develop non operational land.
“This site offers the potential to create new employment opportunities and support the wider regeneration plans for the area.”
The leader of the council, Councillor Philip Hickson said:
“The council has been working with Network Rail for many months to bring this site to market. The site is a regeneration priority in the saved local plan in an area which focuses on business uses.
“The Chaddesden Triangle is part of the River Derwent corridor where recreational and leisure facilities are being enhanced.
“There are opportunities to deliver key regeneration benefits, taking advantage of this major river frontage, for the area and for the city. “
George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said:
“This is welcome news and something that the chamber is fully supportive of.
“The Chaddesden Triangle is a huge swathe of land which at the moment is not realising its full potential, so anything which can be done to not only redevelop it but also create jobs, encourage enterprise and boost growth has to be a good thing, particularly in the current economic climate.”
The deadline for initial responses will be 18 November 2011, with those shortlisted invited to make final bid stage tenders by January 2012. It is anticipated that final developer selection will take place in March 2012.
BNP Paribas Real Estate is acting on behalf of Network Rail.
All profits generated through commercial activities are ‘invested in future rail projects helping to reduce the cost of rail to the taxpayer’.
