Ex-furniture site to be redeveloped as units

Apr 16 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

THE former home of Stag furniture in Sunderland is set to be redeveloped after the two-acre site was acquired by Darlington-based Harrison Properties.

The land on Riverside Road in Southwick was formerly used as the furniture plant’s lorry park.

Now Harrison Properties is aiming to develop a range of small starter units, varying in size from 550sqft up to 1,900sqft, which will be available for sale or let. Construction is expected to take about six months.

More than 500 workers lost their jobs when Stag Furniture closed in March 2006. Administrators were forced to make 180 workers redundant initially and then and when efforts to find a buyer failed, the remaining 372 staff lost their jobs.

The firm had lost more than £10m in three years.

“Harrison Properties is a local property company with existing industrial estates in Darlington and Durham,” said Adrian Harrison, managing director of the industrial property developer.

“We believe the location of the site within Sunderland and the design and size of the units will provide an exciting opportunity for small local businesses.”

The development of the former Stag site should complement plans by Adderstone Properties from Newcastle to build its Quay West scheme on the former Austin and Pickersgill shipyard on the south bank of the Wear.

Boss Ian Baggett has hired builder Brims to construct a development of 48 ‘own front door’ business units adding up to a 100,000sqft business park.

Other former industrial sites in Sunderland are still awaiting development.

The old Vaux brewery site is still the subject of a dispute between regeneration company Sunderland Arc and Tesco.

Meanwhile the abandoned Arc/ Newells glass site has recently been acquired by regeneration specialists St Modwen, as the company’s first venture into the North East.