Aykley Developments has unveiled plans to convert the former AA North East regional headquarters at Newcastle Business Park into 151 rental homes, in a scheme it values at £50m.
Carr Ellison House, on William Armstrong Drive, would be converted and extended, with its existing structural frame retained.
Two planning applications are under consideration by Newcastle City Council. One seeks prior approval to convert the existing offices into 89 flats. A separate full application covers another 62 homes in one- and two-storey upward extensions, alongside external alterations and commercial facilities. Neither application has been decided.
The proposed development would contain one- and two-bedroom apartments, supported by facilities more commonly associated with hotels and private members' clubs.
These include a swimming pool, spa, gym, co-working and meeting spaces, podcast and art studios, a cinema room, golf simulator and padel courts. A café and ground-floor retail space are also proposed.
Newcastle-based FaulknerBrowns is the architect, with DPP Planning advising on the applications.
Aykley proposes a new high-performance exterior, heat pumps and around 800 square metres of solar panels.
Aykley Developments chief executive Imad Ali says, “Newcastle needs new homes, but how and where we create them matters. This is an opportunity to regenerate an existing brownfield site and give a well-built but vacant office building decades more productive use rather than demolishing it and starting again.”
Aykley bought the building, through its company AD Carr Ellison House Ltd, in November 2025. Previous owner Shelborn Asset Management says it sold Carr Ellison House for £2.65m.
Shelborn describes the property as a four-storey, 112,000 sq ft office building and says it had previously secured permitted development consent for 114 homes. Aykley's applications now propose a different configuration, combining conversion of the existing offices with additional accommodation above.
The purchase was supported by a £2.275m bridging loan from SDKA. Companies House records a charge over the property, created on 28 November 2025, in favour of the lender. Finance for the proposed redevelopment has not been disclosed.
Aykley Developments forms part of Aykley Group, whose residential portfolio includes Pimlico Court in Durham and St James View in Newcastle. The group also operates The Court and The Sanctuary Knocker in Durham's hospitality sector.
The next step is Newcastle City Council's determination of the two applications. Comments on the extension proposal are open until 29 October.
