Opus Land - Leisure Development - Newcastle, Gateshead Quayside

Date: 14 Dec 2007

Yorkshire-based developers Opus Land, one of the fastest-growing development and investment companies in the country, have sold a prime site on the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle to Irish developers McAleer and Rushe for £5 million.

McAleer and Rushe are now planning to build a new 200-bed hotel on the site of the old Ingersoll Rand warehouse on South Shore Road behind the Baltic car park.

The 1.7-acre site received outline planning permission planning for an hotel and serviced apartments in February this year.

Opus Land purchased direct from previous owner-occupier, Ingersoll Rand, in 2005 for an undisclosed sum.

Andrew Duncan, director of Opus Land, commented: "This is a very prominent site in Gateshead, fronting the River Tyne. There has been considerable interest in the site since we bought it and, subsequently, gained planning permission for an hotel. The development of this site will be a superb addition to Newcastle and Gateshead's leisure scene."

Simon Hawkins of property consultants Knight Frank, who advised Opus Land on the sale, commented: "The Gateshead Quayside is booming. This development will add a further high-quality 200-bed hotel to the Gateshead Quays area, which is now benefiting from all of the existing and proposed commercial and residential development going on in the immediate vicinity".

McAleer and Rushe are understood to be in detailed talks with a hotel operator.

Opus Land was launched in 1999 by Andrew Duncan and Richard Smith and has already established an impressive track record as an investment and development property company. With backing from Palmer Capital Partners, Opus Land concentrates on development opportunities throughout the United Kingdom from its offices in Ilkley in West Yorkshire, London and the West Midlands.

Development and investment projects undertaken include 21 Somerfield "essential " supermarkets throughout the region, Opus Park Stockton and developments in Sunderland, York, Scunthorpe, Newcastle, Chester and Goole. The company's current portfolio is worth in excess of £550 million.

Opus-Gateshead

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