Friar Gate Goods Yard redevelopment moves closer as developer chosen

The redevelopment of Derby’s historic Friar Gate Goods Yard looks set to finally move forward after the company that owns the site announced the appointment of a developer.

Clowes Developments, the owner of the derelict 11.5-acre site, which includes two landmark Grade II-listed buildings, has selected Wavensmere Homes to bring forward plans to create 275 homes, plus mixed-use commercial space.

Wavensmere is the company behind the £170 million Nightingale Quarter residential scheme, which has seen hundreds of new homes built on the site of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

The collaborative development agreement between Clowes and Wavensmere was brokered by Russell Rigby of Derby-based property agents Rigby and Co.

Thomas Clowes, director of Clowes Developments, said: “We are very pleased to be working with a highly innovative developer, who not only has a reputation for restoring heritage assets and revitalising previously used land, but already has a strong legacy of success here in Derby.”

James Dickens, managing director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Clowes Developments to reanimate this landmark, centrally located site.”

Friar Gate Goods Yard has been in the ownership of the Clowes family for 40 years.

Over the years, a number of options for redevelopment have been proposed but not progressed, due to heritage considerations and commercial viability.

Now, the site, which is accessed off Uttoxeter New Road, looks set to finally be transformed.

The proposals include the restoration of the two landmark buildings – the Bonded Warehouse and the Engine House.

Wavensmere has experience of injecting new life into historic structures – having done so with the ‘pepper pot’ buildings at Nightingale Quarter.

Thomas said: “Wavensmere Homes has become one of this city’s most prominent residential developers, with the £170 million multi-award-winning Nightingale Quarter becoming one of the finest regeneration and restoration assets in the region.

“The Wavensmere team had the vision to transform the former Derby Royal Infirmary site – which had laid derelict for a decade – into the vibrant new community it is today.

“The public, the council, and all stakeholders can be reassured that the team will be applying the same collaborative approach and huge investment injection to Friar Gate Goods Yard.”

A planning application is now currently being prepared, in consultation with Derby City Council and a range of stakeholders.

Friar Gate Goods Yard, which sits just outside the Friar Gate Conservation Area, was originally intended as the main goods depot for the Great Northern Railway line, to handle coal, livestock, timber, and metals.

Designed in 1870, and entering operation in 1878, the Bonded Warehouse building contained extensive warehouse space and offices.

The Engine House was built to supply power to the hydraulic lifts and capstans at the Bonded Warehouse.

The site first became derelict in 1967 – and in 2020 an arson attack exposed the whole inner steel structure of the two historic buildings.

Wavensmere has said it intends to create some of the most eco-friendly properties on the market at the site – while at the same time bringing historic buildings back into use.

James said: “The design proposals that we are currently working up are ground-breaking and provide solutions for bringing the two badly fire-damaged 150-year-old listed buildings within the Goods Yard back into use.

“A key marker of success will be introducing innovative energy saving technology that keeps the future running costs to occupiers to a minimum.

“We hope that the people of Derby will once again get behind the collaborative efforts being made to create something truly special here.

“It is vital that Friar Gate’s two important heritage assets are finally removed from English Heritage’s ‘at risk’ register.”