Major redevelopment of historic Derby site moves step closer

The redevelopment of Derby’s historic Friar Gate Goods Yard has moved a step closer after the company which owns the site revealed the appointment of a developer.

Clowes Developments, the owner of the derelict 11.5-acre site, which includes two landmark Grade II-listed buildings, has chosen Wavensmere Homes to bring forward plans to create 275 homes, plus mixed-use commercial space.

Wavensmere Homes is the firm behind the £170million Nightingale Quarter residential scheme, which has seen hundreds of new homes built on the site of the old Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

Thomas Clowes, director of Clowes Developments, said: “We are very pleased to be working with a highly innovative developer, who not only has a reputation for restoring heritage assets and revitalising previously used land, but already has a strong legacy of success here in Derby.”

James Dickens, managing director of Wavensmere Homes, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Clowes Developments to reanimate this landmark, centrally located site.”

A planning application is now currently being prepared and will be considered by Derby City Council.

Proposals are 'groundbreaking'

The site is located off Uttoxeter New Road.

According to Marketing Derby, the proposals include the restoration of the two landmark buildings – the Bonded Warehouse and the Engine House.

Friar Gate Goods Yard, which sits just outside the Friar Gate Conservation Area, was originally intended as the main goods depot for the Great Northern Railway line, handling coal, livestock, timber and metals.

Designed in 1870 and entering operation in 1878, the Bonded Warehouse building contained extensive space and offices.

The Engine House was built to supply power to the hydraulic lifts and capstans at the Bonded Warehouse.

The site first became derelict in 1967 – and in 2020 an arson attack exposed the whole inner steel structure of the two historic buildings.

Wavensmere has said it intends to create some of the most eco-friendly properties on the market at the site – while at the same time bringing historic buildings back into use.

James added: “The design proposals that we are currently working up are groundbreaking and provide solutions for bringing the two badly fire-damaged 150-year-old listed buildings within the Goods Yard back into use.

“A key marker of success will be introducing innovative energy saving technology that keeps the future running costs to occupiers to a minimum.

“We hope that the people of Derby will once again get behind the collaborative efforts being made to create something truly special here.

“It is vital that Friar Gate’s two important heritage assets are finally removed from English Heritage’s ‘at risk’ register.”