The derelict site of a fire-hit Newcastle restaurant will finally be redeveloped as student housing, after councillors approved plans.
Lock and Key and the attached NE4 café were destroyed in a blaze in 2015 and were subsequently demolished, since when the plot in Heber Street has been left vacant. The land, near St James’ Park, has been the subject of numerous building plans that have failed to materialise over the years.
But there are now hopes that it will finally get its long-awaited overhaul, after Newcastle City Council signed off on designs for a 12-storey student accommodation block. The local authority’s planning committee granted approval on Friday morning for proposals from Downing Students, which will see more than 400 students housed in a complex made up of 293 standalone studio apartments and another 20 ‘clusters’ flats.
