The new office development will be built on East Street at the site of the old Sports
Direct store and importantly directly opposite the new Darlington Government Hub on Brunswick Street, which is currently under construction.

The land south of East Street is already cleared and ready for the development of the
office space to begin. Once complete, the new building will offer more than 50,000sq ft
of office space and have 500 workspaces available, and will both complement and
capitalise on the government’s investment in the Darlington Government Hub less than
100m away.

The new Darlington Government Hub is a five-storey office building project which
started in January and is scheduled to open in early 2028, eventually housing over
1,600 civil servants and nine government departments as the permanent home of the
Darlington Economic Campus.

Cllr Chris McEwan, Cabinet Member for Economy, said: “There is an increasing
demand from private sector professional and financial services who are keen to move
nearer to the new Darlington Government Hub, so it makes absolute sense to use the
empty space on East Street to fulfil that demand.

“Bringing more people into Darlington town centre to work in the new office space is
great news for our town, as the increasing footfall will ensure our town remains well
used, vibrant and attractive for many years to come.

“It’s undoubtedly an exciting time for Darlington, with both the new office building and Government Hub springing up within yards of one another, a new commercial quarter is taking shape in our town bringing with it a new era for Darlington.”

The Council’s development partner for the project is regeneration specialists, Cityheart.
A comprehensive Development Agreement has recently been finalised, paving the way

This document was classified as: OFFICIAL
for the regeneration of several town centre sites over the coming years. The partnership
is already progressing work across five key strategic sites.

Cityheart is a leading developer specialising in public–private partnerships, with a
growing portfolio of innovative regeneration projects across the UK. The wider project
team includes Space Architects, Identity Consult, engineers BGP and TGA, ELG
Planning, and OOBE landscape architects.
James Litherland, Development Director, Cityheart, commented: “The first phase office marks the start of the delivery of a new commercial quarter in Darlington which will
capitalise on the investment in the Economic Campus, allowing businesses to cluster
and complement the new Government Hub. This will provide much needed high-quality
jobs and support the vitality of the town centre. We will announce more in the coming
months as we work up a planning application and seek the views of local residents and
businesses,”