Ambitious plans drawn up to transform town centre car park into prime housing and social hub  

Plans to transform a 1960s car park into a contemporary urban neighbourhood have been submitted to Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council.  

Social impact developers Capital&Centric are looking to transform Midway car park into 100 one-to-three bedroom apartments with landscaping underneath a three-floor atrium. A social hub with a gym, mini-cine and lounge is also planned. 

It is part of the developer’s push to give brutalist concrete structures in prime town centre spots a new lease of life. 

The company is also behind the £60 million Goods Yard ‘urban village’ project in neighbouring Stoke-on-Trent. 

The proposed Midway neighbourhood is the first of three sites being brought forward with the Borough Council to re-boot key town centre spaces, a project which has attracted more than £35 million of investment from the Government’s Future High Street Fund and Town Deal Fund, thanks to authority-led bids. 

The submitted plans include: 

• 114 design-led apartments (77 one-bed, 37 two-bed) 

• Landscaping/community spaces 

• 68 cycle storage spaces 

• 67 car parking spaces 

John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “The challenge of building on brownfield land is you need to be bold and creative in your approach. Our radical plans for Midway are exactly that and will bring forward much needed homes in a prime town centre spot. 

“People thought we were mad when we said we wanted to create new homes from a car park but the plans show that it can work and it’s actually made for a more interesting and unique neighbourhood.” 

Councillor Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “The ageing and outdated Midway will soon be redundant with the opening of Castle car park and this exciting proposal avoids wasteful demolition and allows new housing to spring up on a prominent town centre brownfield site. 

Capital&Centric has a national reputation for turning unloved buildings and derelict land into homes, workspaces, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants. They have also delivered award-winning neighbourhoods, including Kampus and Crusader in Manchester city centre.