Developer gets to work on former Job Centre transformation

An award-wining estate agent and property developer is getting to work on the redevelopment of the former Job Centre in Sunderland city centre.

Ashbrookes has this month [4 Mar] opened its first branch in the city on the bottom floor of the building as part of phase one of the development.

Phase two, which is dependent upon planning permission from Sunderland City Council, will see the building extended by a further two floors.

Bringing it in-line with the two adjoining units, the expansion would see the three floors above the branch house 78 luxury student apartments.

Ashbrookes has also said that it will transform the exterior façade by recladding it to look 'fresh and more modern'.

Arif Mushtaq, managing director of Ashbrookes, said: "We are delighted to be opening our first estate agency branch in the city. This is Ashbrookes's 4^th branch with the other branches established in Middlesbrough, Acklam and Yarm.

"As an agency, Ashbrookes is a residential sales and lettings estate agency which also specialises in property management and property development.  Ashbrookes is currently renovating or building 3 additional projects in Middlesbrough focused on student accommodation with in excess of 200 studios in the pipeline for 2024/2025.

"The new Sunderland agency has already created five jobs with more hopefully in the pipeline as we continue to increase our presence in the city.

"Once development is underway, it will generate a further 70 construction jobs."

Ashbrookes was inspired to develop the building due to its city centre location and close proximity to the University of Sunderland's two main campuses.

He added: "The first wave of apartments will be available by 1^st September, with the second wave finished and available by January 2025.

"What really attracted us to the development was the area. We have delivered numerous student accommodation developments across the North East and this site just ticked all of the boxes.

"It's got big, wide open floors, lending itself nicely to being converted into accommodation, plus being lower than the adjoining buildings also made it extendable, which is rare for such a prime city centre site.

"It is also ideally located for students studying at either University of Sunderland campus.

Research by PwC and StudentCrowd, published in December, revealed that universities across the UK are suffering from an "existential housing crisis".

The data, obtained for Sky News, revealed that while the student population has risen by 400,000 since 2019, the number of available student houses has dropped by 19,000 in the same period.

Arif added: "The feedback we've received so far in response to turning the building into high quality business space and student accommodation has been really heartening.

"The lack of on-campus accommodation for students has resulted in the UK suffering from a huge dearth in student accommodation and Sunderland is no different.

"If the issue isn't addressed, then we stand a real chance of students choosing to study elsewhere, which would deal a huge economic blow to the city and its wider areas.

"We anticipate having the the first studio apartments open for the upcoming academic year (September 2024) and hopefully there will be even more developments to follow on the back of this."

Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "It is great to see Ashbrookes further strengthening the city centre offering by bringing their award-winning property business to the city.

"As a City Council, we are always keen to do all we can to encourage business investment and create a more resilient economy and working with partners such as Arif - who is committing to investing in the long-term future of the city - is key to that.

"I'd like to wish them all the best with their proposals and look forward to working with them as they continue to invest in the city."