Case Studies

English Partnerships, Peterborough City Council & EEDA
South Bank, Peterborough

Location, size and uses

South Bank comprises a 14 hectare brown-field site located on the south bank of the River Nene, and adjacent to the A15 London Road, forming the southern gateway to Peterborough. The site is ear-marked for a highquality mixed-use regeneration providing circa 650 new homes (riverside apartments/town houses) and 400,000 sq ft of commercial space (offices, hotel and leisure/retail uses).

The brief

The URC Partners (English Partnership, EEDA and Peterborough City Council) are seeking to promote the regeneration opportunity to the private development market and procure the services of a development partner to implement a master-plan (in the spirit of the established Development Framework) and deliver a sustainable and vibrant mixed-use regeneration.

Key objectives and constraints

Key objective

To support the URC in realising the site’s full potential in terms of commercial, community and environmental benefits, by helping to select a development partner that is best-placed to deliver on these aims and by securing the optimum terms governing a Development Agreement between the parties.

Key constraint

A substantial infrastructure requirement and a need for further land assembly create a significant gap funding liability. The challenge will be to structure the selection process in a way which identifies best value at a number of stages (delivery of infrastructure, draw down of serviced land and future overage).

Actions and outcome

Knight Frank was appointed in April 2005 to action the following tasks for the URC: -
  1. “Stress-testing” a series of financial appraisals to clarify the anticipated gap-funding requirement;
  2. Planning and implementing a detailed marketing and procurement programme (via OJEU);
  3. Advising on the selection of a preferred developer and negotiating an appropriate Development Agreement.

    The procurement program is on course for a launch in early 2006.

Knight Frank input

Knight Frank’s input has come from a coordinated team combining mixed-use development, public sector and regeneration consultancy, plus residential, retail and hotel development specialists.

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