£30 million plans to complete Brighton development (From The Argus)

£30 million plans to complete Brighton development

3:00pm Friday 7th October 2011 in News

The final £30 million piece in a major city centre regeneration project could be set in place after being given the thumbs up by council officers.

Brighton and Hove City Council officials have given their backing to plans by London-based Square Bay to create housing, offices, shops and a hotel on the Block J site at Brighton's New England Quarter, close to Brighton Station.

The proposals include office space, a 94-bedroom four-star hotel and almost 150 one, two and three bed flats within three blocks.

As part of the proposed planning agreement, the site developers have offered to give £150,000 to improve recreational facilities at The Level and £340,000 towards improvements to the rear of the station.

Around a third of the homes provided would be affordable housing on the site between Fleet Street and Stroudley Road, Brighton.

Block J is the development of a car park which was part of the railway goods yard until the 1970s.

It is the last piece of the New England Quarter Masterplan which was started in 2001 when the area was divided into 15 blocks for regeneration.

Markham Hanson, the director of Square Bay, said: “We have come an awful long way in the last few months considering the current environment.

“The site should create within the region of 350 jobs and finally finish that piece of development as a whole.”

The plans are the culmination of around two years of discussions between the council and developers.

Work on the site could start in the next six months if permission is granted and completed within two years.

A decision will be made by the council's planning committee on Wednesday.