City of York Council has instructed KPMG and Savills to lead the hunt for a development partner for the 178-acre city centre regeneration dubbed the King’s Cross of the North.
The city’s masterplan envisages up to 2,500 homes, 1.3m sq ft of offices and a network of public squares and green spaces linking neighbourhoods around York Railway Station.
Selected development partners will work alongside the council, Network Rail, the National Railway Museum and the Homes and Communities Agency to deliver the project, with construction due to start in 2017 and complete in 15-20 years
Planning consultants will be appointed this summer to oversee the masterplanning. KPMG and Savills then hope to appoint a delivery partner early next year, which could be a consortium of investors, developers and long-term asset managers.
York Central was made an enterprise zone last year, which means 50% of business rates estimated at more than £100m will be retained to help deliver the scheme.
The city is expected to benefit from an HS2 station providing improved rail links to London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, which could be operational in 2033.
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