How revamped Gateshead Old Town Hall could look after major boost for derelict landmark's restoration
A huge restoration of Gateshead’s derelict former town hall moved a step closer to reality on Tuesday.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness announced a £3.4 million funding boost for a project to revamp the prominent town centre site by turning it into more than 200 new homes.
Capital&Centric, the developers who took over the disused town hall in 2024, now say that they expect to reveal a detailed vision for the West Street site in the coming months.
A planning application for the Old Town Hall is due to be submitted in the third quarter of 2026, with hopes that construction can begin by the end of next year and complete in 2029.
The Manchester-based firm have released a new concept image showcasing how the grade II listed Victorian building could be repurposed, showing people sitting around a plaza festooned with lights and street food vendors.
It described how the town hall and surrounding surface level car parks would be “reimagined into a bustling neighbourhood of homes, cafés, bars, restaurants, and lush green spaces”.
Redeveloping the Old Town Hall is seen as a key element of the wider regeneration of Gateshead town centre.
Council bosses are desperate to revive the town by building hundreds of new homes around the area, including on Gateshead High Street and at the Baltic Quarter, to create a busier, better-connected community that is a more viable destination for businesses.
After the mayor’s funding announcement, Capital&Centric joint managing director John Moffat said: “It’s fantastic to see Mayor Kim McGuinness back this landmark town centre site. This is a rare opportunity to reimagine an iconic building as a place people can enjoy – whether that’s hanging out or calling it home. Our vision is to create a new neighbourhood, kick starting wider regeneration across Gateshead. We’re looking forward to working with the mayor and the North East Combined Authority to deliver the transformation this town deserves.”
Ms McGuinness, who is awarding £22 million to nine housebuilding schemes across the North East, said the town hall “has huge untapped potential” and represents “one of the most exciting urban regeneration opportunities in the North of England”.
She added: “By breathing life back into an iconic building that has stood empty too long we’re not only delivering much‑needed homes, we’re preserving a piece of our shared heritage and creating a place that will once again inspire local people for generations to come.”
The Old Town Hall was Gateshead’s main civic building until 1987, when the council moved its headquarters to the Civic Centre.
It was once earmarked for dinosaur-themed attraction and an then “Unnatural History Museum”, but those proposals did not come to fruition.