The biggest office development in Newcastle city centre’s history has taken a major step forward, with HMRC looking set to move more than 9,000 jobs to a huge complex that will dramatically transform Pilgrim Street.
Councillors gave their backing on Friday morning to the £155m Pilgrim’s Quarter project, pushing the ambitious scheme closer to reality. The massive office block will be up to nine storeys tall and wrap around Pilgrim Street, John Dobson Street, Market Street, and New Bridge Street West – taking over a huge patch of prime land, including the site of the former Odeon cinema.
It is earmarked to be a new North East base for HMRC, which hopes to relocate thousands of jobs there from its current sites in Longbenton and Washington in 2027. The landmark scheme, put forward by the Reuben Brothers, was approved unanimously by Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday lunchtime – but will also need a final sign-off from the Government before it can be built, due to worries over the “irreversible” damage it will cause to a historic building on the site.
