Esh Group to develop office scheme at Newcastle Great Park

Northeast developer, Esh Group, has been appointed to develop a 120,000 sq ft speculative office scheme at Persimmon’s 200-acre Newcastle Great Park. Construction will start this summer at the site northwest of Newcastle, with the first phase available in July 2008. The development follows the completion of the 350,000 sq ft Sage Group global HQ in 2005. David Jenkinson, managing director of Persimmon North East said: “We are excited to commence the next stage of the evolution of Newcastle Great Park, having finalised the master plan and design and secured the necessary approvals. “This commercial build will provide opportunities for businesses choosing to locate close to Sage’s world headquarters.” The development will be Newcastle’s first major business park scheme for over a decade. Other elements at Newcastle Great Park include 2,500 homes, a retail high street, hotels, schools, a medical quarter and leisure facilities, totalling over 3m sq ft of development when complete. Knight Frank is sole letting agent for the business park element.