The first bricks have been laid on a new development of 12 modern homes on the former Avenue Hotel site, near Whitley Bay seafront.
Empress Point will be a vibrant new development of three and four bedroom townhouses, together with a ground floor apartment and maisonette, on the corner of Park Avenue and Brook Street.
The land is being brought back into use for housing as part of North Tyneside Council’s ambitious £36m regeneration scheme for the coast, standing alongside the iconic Spanish City Dome, which reopened as a landmark leisure venue in June.
Named after the old Empress Ballroom, which was part of the Spanish City complex, the scheme will offer modern living in the heart of community which has benefitted from significant regeneration and new investment in recent years and seen businesses flocking back to the town.
The homes are being brought forward by Aurora Properties on behalf of the council with the project due to be complete next summer. The new development has been designed by Kier North Tyneside and is being built by Kier Services.
The aim is to open a show home in early 2019.
North Tyneside’s Elected Mayor, Norma Redfearn CBE, said: “This is an important site in the heart of the Whitley Bay regeneration area. This development will offer high quality homes in a prime location, nestled between our picturesque seafront and the centre of town, making it a very desirable place to live.
"The choice of name is also a very fitting reminder of the glory days of Whitley Bay, which are flooding back as we speak. I am delighted to see work getting started and I can’t wait to see the results."
Mike Furze, regional director at Kier, said: “This marks another important milestone for the regeneration of Whitley Bay and the seafront. Working collaboratively with North Tyneside Council and Aurora Properties, we are proud to be developing new homes at Empress Point as we continue to help improve the quality of housing and facilities for residents across the borough.”
Further along the seafront, North Tyneside Council is listening to offers for a plot of land once occupied by the Whisky Bends pub.
The council purchased the site in 2014 and have demolished the building and tidied up the area creating a development opportunity that will support the continued regeneration of the coastline.