If you’re wondering what’s afoot, here’s a round up of some of the major developments which are changing the city’s skyline.
1. Elephant Tearooms
The painstaking restoration of one of Sunderland's most historically-significant buildings is nearing completion. The Elephant Tearooms is a grand example of Hindu Gothic style and is testament to Sunderland’s wealth in the late nineteenth century. It opened to the public in 1875 as a grocer’s shop and tea warehouse for Grimshaw & Son with an incredible amount of detail in its construction, from dragon gargoyles which guard over this gateway to the city centre to three stone elephants carrying tea boxes, which still bear the original carvings. The restoration project is comprised of two buildings: the tearooms and a neighbouring Georgian townhouse which over the years became one unit. As part of the scheme, the original Georgian shop front and the tearoom’s original Victorian shop front are being replicated after being torn down years ago. Both will house commercial units on the ground floor, with the upper floors being used for mixed commercial use. Photo: national world
2. New homes, Riverside
Work has started on 1000 new homes planned on both sides of the Wear as part of the Riverside development. The development of four new neighbourhoods will double the population of the city centre and create a vibrant new community. There will be a mixture of houses and apartments to rent or buy. The neighbourhoods will be linked via the new footbridge. Photo: Riverside Sunderland
3. Keel Square bars
Building work has started on the new Keel Tavern, which is due to open in one of the four units beneath the Holiday Inn in Keel Square in November. It's also expected that The Botanist will open this year. A third bar is due to be announced for the third corner unit, with the fourth unit expected to be retail. Photo: Stu Norton
4. Old Civic Centre site, Burdon Road
The old Civic Centre site is being cleared in phases with demolition of the 1970s building starting last October. It will house a city centre community of 265 homes, with the first properties expected to be completed and ready to live in by autumn 2024. Developers say Saint George’s Square, at the south end of the site and bombed during World War II, will be recreated “with the Grade II listed Saint George’s House as the focal point”. Photo: National world