Middlesbrough’s plans for what the council describes as the biggest changes to the town centre in a generation have been given the green light.
The council’s Executive has approved a new town-centre and a 10-year Investment Prospectus, setting out ambitions for new homes, public spaces and leisure development.
Among the headline proposals is a new theatre on the Civic Centre site, designed to sit alongside Middlesbrough Town Hall, MIMA, Central Library and the hospitality businesses around Centre Square. The wider prospectus also includes a hotel development and plans to rethink parts of the town centre where older buildings no longer have a future.
Housing is a major part of the strategy too. Thousands of new homes are envisaged across Middlehaven and Gresham, with the aim of bringing more families and young professionals into central Middlesbrough.
The plans have been developed with the town’s Place Leaders , which brings together major local organisations and employers. An earlier involving 1,300 young people, parents and carers also helped shape the priorities, including creating a safer, greener town centre and giving more young people reasons to build their careers locally.
The council says feasibility work has already taken place on several projects and that major operators have shown interest in the proposed theatre. The prospectus contains 15 projects at different stages of development.
The approval does not mean every element will appear overnight. Individual projects will still need to move through their own development, funding and planning stages. But it gives the wider strategy formal backing and a route for the next phase of work.
: Middlesbrough Council. Read the original announcement for the full Investment Prospectus .