Work has completed on our Keelman Rise development in Sunderland.
The £7.6million scheme, built by EQUANS, played a key part in our regeneration of the site off Kidderminster Road. 48 two and three-bedroom homes and eight two-bedroom bungalows make up the final phase of the development at the Downhill project.
Located close to key public transport links – and the A19 – the new development features a range of two-and-three-bedroom homes available for affordable rent that gives Sunderland's residents the opportunity to move into a modern, high-quality home, that perfectly suits their needs.
Work on the site, which looks out over the River Wear and Penshaw Monument, was designed and completed with the existing community in mind. Disruption was kept to a minimum, and the EQUANS site team – joined by local volunteers and our colleagues – conducted a number of litterpicks on the green space that backs on to the site to support the environment.
Joanne Gordon, Development Director at Gentoo Group, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have completed work on our Keelman Rise development, the first in our major multi-million pound investment into creating a new era of affordable housing in Sunderland.
“The development has provided high-quality, modern homes for over one hundred Gentoo tenants and we’ve received brilliant feedback from those now living in these new homes and I look forward to working with EQUANS to deliver more vital affordable homes to the area over the coming year.”
Louise Buckton, New Build Director at EQUANS, said: “It is great to see the full Keelman Rise development come together now that the site team has started to put the finishing touches on the last of the 56 new homes.
“All the homes are very visually striking, and hopefully appeal to future residents too, who can benefit from a modern, high-quality property which gives them the space to be able to spend many happy years living in their new home.
“I want to pass on my personal thanks and congratulations to the EQUANS site team, who have worked so hard throughout the pandemic to keep the project on-track and to our usual high standards.”
This flagship development marks a major milestone in our commitment to creating 1200 affordable homes in Sunderland by 2026. Keelman Rise is the first development to complete since we announced our major affordable homes plan in 2019.
The homes were made available to those registered on our allocations system HomeHunt and the first new tenants on the scheme moved in the homes in Spring 2021.
