City Gateway East
A place to power the space race
City Gateway East is a transformative programme led by Northumbria University, set in the heart of the city centre. The vision for City Gateway East is to create a new urban area centred around cutting-edge educational and research facilities for the University and partners. This ambitious project is anchored by two major developments – the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre (NESST) and development of state of the art laboratories for research and teaching on the site of an existing University building known as the Lipman building. The University is also creating development-ready plots within the campus to attract investment opportunities for public and private sector bodies.
NESST, developed in partnership with the UK Space Agency and Lockheed Martin Space UK, aims to be a catalyst for the UK space sector’s growth in North East England. This project is expected to generate over 350 jobs and contribute more than £260 million to the North East economy over the next 30 years. The project is currently under construction and is due to complete in summer 2026. The University is keen to continue the momentum created by the NESST project to explore further opportunities to develop incubator space to support the development of UK based supply chains in the space sector, creating opportunities for collaboration and growth in the regional space economy.
Northumbria University also seeks to unlock further development land to the north of the campus, to facilitate the redevelopment of a mothballed building, Lipman, by creating new, modern, fit-for-purpose facilities to contribute to its growth ambitions. The facility will help increase research capacity and capability by creating laboratory-type research and teaching facilities to not only improve its existing stock, but also to enable growth in key areas of research across its Science and Environment and Health and Wellbeing faculties. This will include the research facilities linked to the University’s Centre for Health and Social Equity
(CHASE) project, which will ultimately see teaching and research activities currently being delivered on its other campus, Coach Lane, being brought into the city.
Land is also being cleared to create potential future development plots around the NESST and Lipman projects to create investment opportunities for further developments.
GDV: £500m
Size: 35 acres
Ownership: Northumbria University
Uses: Educational, Healthcare, Commercial
Status: City Gateway East is part of the Newcastle’s Urban Core Plan, to promote the growth of knowledge economy and support the expansion of Northumbria University’s research ambitions. Planning permission for NESST was granted in 2024 and construction is underway
Opportunity: Northumbria University are seeking investment and development partners to bring forward uses related to life sciences, data, information technology and satellite technology sector
