Shortlist of developers drawn up for Lancaster’s Canal Quarter

As we reported in January, the city council has been looking for developers to deliver the initial phase in the scheme.

They will award a £13m contract to a partner who can deliver the first phase of housing within the city’s Canal Quarter masterplan.

The homes would be built on the Nelson Street car park, one of several sites within the masterplan earmarked for homes.

Nelson Street has been identified as "an opportunity to bring forward much-needed homes in the first phase of the regeneration”.

The plans are for up to 233 new homes, delivered in a mix featuring social, affordable, and private rent and shared ownership tenures.

The council has been seeking bids from housing developers to deliver the scheme, with an estimated contract start of June 2023, finishing in June 2026.

And now, following an official 'expression of interest' window, a shortlist of preferred developers has been drawn up.

Members of the city council cabinet discussed at their latest meeting the next steps in progressing the early phase housing proposals.

While this discussion was exempt to press and public due to it being commercially sensitive, it was agreed that the recommendations be included in the public minutes..

It was resolved unanimously that officers progress to the tender stage of the preferred developer competition to assess proposals from the shortlisted parties interested in promoting a housing scheme for the Nelson Street site.

Tender documentation / developer prospectus will now be issued to the shortlisted parties, detailing the council’s specific conditions, aspirations, and objectives for the development.

This includes the requirement that the completed development must achieve at least a minimum 75 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.

The proposals will be assessed by officers against a balanced scorecard of price (offer) / quality / social value factors.

Officers will then report on the outcome of the tender phase and recommend a preferred proposal / Preferred Developer Partner (PDP) to cabinet.

The PDP will then be offered an exclusivity period and a formal development agreement with the council will be made by cabinet following consideration of the tender phase report.

Working with PRP Architects, Lancaster City Council first unveiled its vision for the area - which was previously known as Canal Corridor North - last October.

The scheme, between St Leonard’s Gate and Quarry Road, would comprise 580 homes, two public squares and more than 75,000 sq ft of commercial space.

Additional pedestrian and cycle-friendly streets would also be developed to encourage access to Lancaster Canal.

The former Mitchell’s Brewery would become a landmark building in the quarter.

Other aspects include extending the Dukes Theatre, improving the public realm, and enhancing existing ginnels to create interesting pathways for pedestrians to explore. The plan also calls for stepped canal access.

The council has received £2.769m from the government's Brownfield Land Release Fund towards the scheme, the aim of which is to unlock new homes on derelict and underused brownfield land through the One Public Estate programme.