PLANS for the next step of the £750 million redevelopment of Station Hill in Reading have been given the green light.

The NCP car park on Garrard Street will be demolished to make way for an 18-storey office block and a pocket park, during phase two of the project.

Work on the 125-metre-tall building, called One Station Hill, will begin in the spring and it is due to be completed in 2024. A 70-space car park will also be built.

Those plans, submitted by Lincoln MGT, were approved by Reading Borough Council’s Planning Applications Committee meeting on January 13.

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The company was also granted outline planning permission for a “flexible mixed-use scheme” on 128,000 sqm of land at Station Hill, which is right outside Reading Station.

It is looking to build 750 homes, offices, shops, cafes and restaurants on four plots of land, with a large plaza in the middle, during phase three of the project.

The company will finalise the designs for phase three, when it submits a reserved matters planning application.

“It will deliver a very long-overdue redevelopment and regeneration of an eyesore site,” said Cllr Tony Page, deputy leader of the council.

“Coming out of the station on the south side has been a pretty depressing experience, particularly the view of the Garrard Street car park.

“The demolition and replacement of it can only be a major improvement.”

Cllr Joe Lovelock (Labour) said: “This is the gateway to the town centre when you come out of the station and it’s been an eyesore for far too long.”

She added: “People want reassurance they are finally going to see much-needed regeneration which will enhance Reading’s reputation and appearance, especially for first-time visitors coming out of the station.”

Reading Chronicle: An artist's impression of the 18-storey office block called One Station Hill An artist's impression of the 18-storey office block called One Station Hill

However, at the planning meeting concerns were raised about the developer’s promise to ensure 10 per cent of homes built during phase three will be affordable.

With major developments, the council usually asks for 30 per cent of the homes to be affordable, but Lincoln MGT insists that would not be viable for this development.

The company has agreed to a deferred payment scheme, which means that if it makes more than 20 per cent profit after construction, it will provide more affordable homes on site or make a financial contribution to the council that can be used to build homes elsewhere.

Cllr Page said there has been “arm wrestling” about the affordable housing agreement and the developer has been “put through the mill”.

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Phase one of the development, which includes plans for over 500 homes, offices, shops and leisure space on the southern area of the Station Hill site, was approved in 2019.

The two sites will be linked by a pedestrian bridge, that will run over Garrard Street.

Lincoln MGT says the £750 million redevelopment will provide more than 1,200 homes, 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space, and 600,000 sq ft of office space when it is completed.

Several ambitious plans for the site were abandoned, before it was bought by the property firm in 2018.