Tameside begins search for Ashton development partner 

The local authority is looking at possible delivery methods for St Petersfield, a £100m business district with the potential to see 170,000 sq ft of workspace created.

Tameside Council has started a soft market testing exercise to gather ideas and views from developers about how the Ashton town centre scheme might progress. 

St Petersfield “provides an opportunity to create a modern, tailored development for Tameside that’s a hub for the growth of the digital, creative and tech sectors in the borough”, marketing documents state. 

The council claims the delivery of the business district could create around 1,900 new jobs in Tameside. 

The St Petersfield area that Tameside is marketing is made up of nine sites: 

• Plot one – a 0.7-acre site on Hodgeson Street that could house 60 apartments 
• Plot two – a 0.4-acre site off St Peters Street that could house a 40,000 sq ft office scheme 
• Plot three – a 0.5-acre site off Chester Square that could house a 37,500 sq ft office 
• Plot four – The 0.1-acre Old Baths Café site off Henry Square that could house a 2,370 sq ft food and beverage venue 

• Plot five – a 0.2-acre site off Old Street that could house 10,000 sq ft of offices and/or studio space 
• Plot six – a 0.3-acre site off Stamford Street West that could house a 25,000 sq ft office 
• Plot seven – 0.5-acre site off Stamford Street West that could house a 33,800 sq ft office  
• Plot eight – a 0.4-acre site on the corner of Cavendish Street and Old Street that could house a 48,500 sq ft hotel 
• Plot nine – a 0.65-acre site on the corner of Park Parade and Cavendish Street that could house a 48,500 sq ft office. 

Earlier this year, Tameside Council designated Ashton as a mayoral development zone in order to provide a strategic, joined-up approach to helping the town realise its potential as an innovation hub. 

The mayoral development zone will be a “non-statutory entity that provides overarching strategic direction for this area and seeks to further refine the ambition and delivery challenges”, according to a report to Tameside’s executive in February. 

The Petersfield masterplan was drawn up by LDA Design, CBRE, TODD Architects, Curtins and Partisan.