In the two and a half years since its formation, the Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) has struggled to make an impact. Why is this?
A day out in Middlesbrough
I took a walking tour of the MDC zone on 20 August 2025, to try to illustrate the scale of the problems facing the organisation. My story is below. But first, some background:
Sleight of hand
The MDC was created on 27 February 2023 by means of a Statutory Instrument signed by DLUHC Secretary Michael Gove. It was created on the same day as Hartlepool Development Corporation (HDC). I’ve recently written an update on the HDC which can be found here. You can find my May 2024 article on the formation of the MDC here, but I’ve included some reminders below.
Smash and Grab Raid
The formation of the MDC was opposed by Middlesbrough Borough Council (MBC). Councillors were concerned about loss of planning powers, and a transfer of assets worth £14.7mn from MBC to the MDC.
Why was the MDC formed?
According to its website, the focus of the MDC is “town centre regeneration, encouraging businesses back into the centre, reducing shop vacancy rates, building new, high-quality housing, and creating a place where people will aspire to live, work and play”. This will be done by “driving investment and cutting red tape”. So, why hasn’t this worked so far?
A slow start
The transfer of assets from MBC to the MDC has been problematic. The initial list of assets was a seemingly random selection of offices, car parks, a bus station, and a former pub scattered around the town centre. A map of the MDC zone can be seen below, with the river Tees at the top.
Land bank
In June 2023, MBC’s interim chief executive, Clive Heaphy, wrote to Michael Gove asking for a delay in the asset transfer. Heaphy argued that the council was effectively gifting the MDC a land bank at the expense of the local authority.
Tees Valley Review
Heaphy’s letter coincided with Mr Gove’s announcement of a probe into claims of “corruption, wrongdoing and illegality” at the nearby Teesworks site. This subsequently became known as the Tees Valley Review (TVR). There was no further news on the MDC asset transfer until March 2024, two months after the publication of the TVR, when Gove announced it again.
Postponed again
But, despite Gove’s announcement, the asset transfer didn’t take place. It stayed in his ‘in tray’ until the General Election four months later. It was still there when his successor, Angela Rayner took over at the re-named MHCLG in July 2024. Another three months passed. TVCA CEO Julie Gilhespie informed the MDC board that the MHCLG would “provide an update in due course”.
Getting there?
Fast forward to April 2025. MBC and the MDC agreed to transfer some of the assets, but only those within the Gresham area. Long after first being announced, most of the asset transfers still haven’t taken place. So much for removing red tape. I started my walking tour in Gresham, which forms the southern part of the MDC zone.
Gresham
In 2013, former Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon branded Gresham “a cancer that needs to be cut out”. The centrepiece of his plan was to demolish 1,500 homes in the Gresham ward. The demolition plans were scaled back several times, and the area is still in limbo 20 years later. But sporadic demolitions continue. In February 2016, nine Victorian shops were removed from Borough Road. Last year, the MDC bought Number 45 for £150,000, then knocked that down too. Two further Victorians are scheduled to be removed from Linthorpe Road to provide access to the new Gresham development.
Time machine
Without a hint of irony, the MDC masterpan, unveiled in July 2023, promised to ‘Build 1,500 new homes in new town centre neighbourhoods, providing people with a greater choice and quality of housing.” If only somebody had thought of that sooner.
The Duke of Buccleuch
But, the Gresham development looks to be finally underway, a partnership between the MDC, iMpeC Developments Ltd and Buccleuch Property. One of its five directors is the 10th Duke of Buccleuch. He’s the second largest landowner in Scotland, owning 217,000 acres of land. Gresham, which has now been re-branded as Crown Square, is a mere postage stamp in comparison, running to 4 acres.
The Crown
The elephant in the room when it comes to Crown Square is the building from which it takes its name. This is the former Crown pub, at the junction of Linthorpe Road and Borough Road. The building was purchased by MBC at the behest of former mayor Andy Preston in February 2023. Inexplicably, Preston paid 60% more than its market value. Tony Parkinson, who left his position as CEO of MBC a month later, was recently appointed as chairman of the MDC. So he’ll be familiar with this property. The Crown was included in the asset transfer from MBC to the MDC in April 2025.
Crown Square, but without the Crown
The Crown has been explicitly excluded from the Crown Square development. This is probably because it’s in an advanced state of derelection, and will have to be demolished. In the meantime, the developers have agreed to upgrade scaffolding that was erected as part of a building survey in May 2024. This was done in such haste that it currently blocks the pavement at a key pedestrian crossing. The scaffolding can be seen in the picture below. One of the ill-fated Linthorpe Road cycle lanes can be seen on the right. This is due to be removed at the end of August. All in all, it’s not a great look for the area.
Let’s get building
Construction company Wates has been appointed to do the actual building of Crown Square. They’ve recently fenced off the area to show that they mean business. Let’s hope that it’s not another false start.
Church House
Moving a couple of blocks north, I arrived at Church House between Bedford Street and Grange Road. It’s a 1970s office block that’s been vacant for decades. In August 2023, Jomast Developments Ltd was given a £1.4mn grant from MBC towards the cost of transforming the building into apartments. It’s been slow progress, not helped by a fire on the roof in July 2024. Jomast doesn’t have much luck with blazes. Its Wesley Chapel development in Hartlepool went on fire in November 2023. The above-mentioned Tony Parkinson, newly appointed chair of the MDC, is employed by Jomast.
Get in on the ground floor
However, there are signs that retail/hospitality units are being readied for opening. Bedford Street is a popular hospitality area, so this may be the direction of travel. Jomast will be encouraged by recent government guidelines aimed at slashing red tape for new bars and music venues. No doubt the 85 new apartments being readied upstairs will be being fitted with adequate sound insulation.
The Cleveland Centre
Across the other side of Grange Road, the Cleveland Centre is a town-centre mall dating back to the early 1970s. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen recently commented that, if he could wave a magic wand, he’d like to see the place demolished. Most Teessiders would probably agree. It’s a hideous building. Houchen argues that Middlesbrough is the most intractable of the urban problems in the Tees Valley, having been left to decay for far too long. He’ll need to check who’s been in charge of this decay for the past eight years. But, leaving that aside, he’s got a point.
Another financial disaster
The centre was bought by MBC for £12mn in 2022, another woeful decision by Andy Preston. The value would probably be written down to zero now, and the building could be transferred to the MDC for a peppercorn sum. The MDC could then take a leaf out of the book of neighbouring Stockton-on-Tees. Stockton decided to demolish its 1970s shopping centre, the Castlegate, to be replaced by an urban park.
But be careful what you wish for
But, the demolition and refurbishment of the Castlegate centre has proceeded at a glacial pace. More than three years after the start of the process, in August 2022, the urban park still isn’t ready. Could central Middlesbrough cope with three years of noise, dust and disruption? I doubt it.
Vacancy rate
On my visit to the Cleveland Centre, I counted 21 shops vacant out of a total of 54, giving a vacancy rate of 38%. That’s high, even by the standards of the average UK high street.
Captain Cook Square
Middlesbrough’s most recent shopping development, built in 1999, can be found just west of the Cleveland Centre. In another display of business acumen, mayor Andy Preston arranged the purchase of Captain Cook Square by MBC for £8mn in January 2020. It’s since lost its flagship retailers, and is being repurposed as an “experience” destination, with mixed results.
Newport Road and Corporation Road
I headed a couple of minutes north of Captain Cook Square to the junction of Linthorpe Road and Newport/Corporation Road. This has always been the focus of Middlesbrough’s retail offer, but it’s struggling. Two of the key stores here, Debenhams and House of Fraser have been closed for some time now, even though both buildings still retain their branding.
The Midas touch
For some inexplicable reason, Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston arranged the purchase of the House of Fraser building for MBC at a cost of £1mn just as the pandemic struck in January 2020. The store was still trading at the time, but it closed in June 2022. The MDC bought the building from MBC for £500.000 in March 2024. In April 2025, the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) announced an indicative allocation of £10mn towards a “high-quality business and innovation space for the digital sector”. But there’s no sign of activity so far.
Debenhams
Just across the road, Debenhams closed in May 2021. The building was sold to an undisclosed investor for £650,000 in January 2024.
Hill Street Centre
Heading along Linthorpe Road, Debenhams was also one of the anchor tenants for the 1980-built Hill Street Centre. This centre is performing slightly better than the Cleveland Centre. But that’s a low bar. 15 out of 51 units are empty here, giving a vacancy rate of 29%.
This is not just a closed store, it’s a Marks and Spencer closed store
Directly opposite Debenhams, Hill Street lost its other anchor tenant, when Marks and Spencer closed in April 2023. A year later, in April 2024, the empty store was bought by Linthorpe 54 Ltd, a vehicle for property developer Nasser Din and his partner Zahid Iqbal. Another one of Mr Din’s business associates, Riaz Hameed, is a member of the MDC board. Another year on from this transaction, the TVCA announced a Tees Valley Investment Zone allocation of £3mn for this building to “support digital and creative sector growth”.
What’s Next?
Across the road from the former Marks and Spencer, Next closed its doors in July 2025. The premises had been snapped up by Linthorpe 54 Ltd in April 2024. Nasser Din expressed his sadness about the closure, although it seems to have been an odd decision to buy the building in the first place. This part of Linthorpe Road is quite desolate now.
Dundas Arcade
At the right of the above photograph, the glass covered arcade leads to Dundas, Middlesbrough’s quirkiest shopping space. Quite a few independent shops manage to thrive here.
Albert Road
One block east of Dundas, Albert Road is the former central business district of Middlesbrough. Daytime footfall is low along this road nowadays, but the night-time economy is prevalent, keeping the emergency services busy, as can be seen here, here and here.
Historic quarter
The northern section of Albert Road forms part of the historic quarter of the town. Most of the buildings here sprang up during the “Infant Hercules” era of the late nineteenth century. A map of the historic quarter can be seen below:
A road runs through it
The Victorian ambience is spoiled by the presence of a concrete road viaduct which carries the A66 dual-carriageway, slicing across the zone from east to west. There’s an over-concentration of bars too. The former pub in the undercroft beneath Middlesbrough railway station is yet to reopen after refurbishment.
A pub with no beer
Across the road, another bar at 2 Exchange Place was repaired externally thanks to a heritage grant two years ago, but is yet to find an occupant.
Crossing the Border
I crossed under Middlesbrough’s “border” into St Hilda’s, also known as Middlehaven. The border is the east to west railway line. Albert Bridge, which carries the railway, can be seen on the extreme left of the above photo.
Boho Four
Still within the historic quarter, a short walk along Queen’s Square took me to the Grade II listed former National Provincial Bank building. It’s now known as Boho 4, for some unfathomable reason.
Digital powerhouse?
Middlehaven is a strange mix of heritage and modern buildings with huge gaps in between. Just at the back of Boho 4 on Gosford Street, I left the historic quarter to find the striking Boho X, occupied by a games developer called Double Eleven.
Old Town Hall
Immediately north of Boho X, Middlesbrough’s former town hall loomed into view. It ceased to be the town hall in 1889, but has somehow survived after being used for numerous purposes since. In January 2025, MBC announced that the building had been awarded £4.5mn from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a restoration project. It’s not known how this will affect grazing rights in the vicinity.
An education hub
Heading down East Street, I came to the construction site for the Outwood Academy. This is a welcome sight, as the project is long overdue. It was first announced in 2018. Middlesbrough College can be seen in the background. The campus also contains the Sixth Form College, and the recently completed TTE Engineering Centre. The campus is a success story for Middlesbrough. The Northern School of Art, over on Newport Road, is also included in the MDC zone. However, Teesside University has been excluded for some reason.
Transporter Bridge
However, a view north from here reveals some of the challenges that the town faces. The amount of derelict land in Middlehaven still outnumbers the amount that has been developed. The Transporter Bridge faces an uncertain future. It has been closed since 2019 due to structural issues. A recent update from MBC indicates that it will be at least five years before the bridge reopens. However the update doesn’t mention that the cost of repair may be prohibitively expensive. Ben Houchen has pledged £30mn of TVCA money towards the cost. That won’t be anywhere near enough.
Houchen confirmed in a recent BBC Tees interview that the figure will be closer to £70mn.
Quangocracy
Middlesbrough faces numerous problems going forward. Will the MDC solve any of these, or is it yet another quango, adding to the red tape instead of removing it? For example, meetings of the MDC board are held at the TVCA business suite at Teesside Airport in Darlington. MDC planning functions are based at the airport too. This means that MBC planning officers need to travel between Middlesbrough and Darlington to complete some tasks.
Live Well
There are certainly success stories in the town, but these are driven by a myriad of different bodies. Outwood Academy is funded by the DfE. The redevelopment of the old town hall is a MBC project. Under mayor Chris Cooke, MBC also undertook the successful transfer of the Live Well health hub to Albert Road. The MDC actually tried to block this.
An intractable policy task?
But, severe challenges remain. To tackle the decline of retail and housing would take billions of pounds in Middlesbrough alone. The MDC will never be given that amount of money. Luke Telford’s 2024 paper “Neoliberalism, left behind Middlesbrough and levelling up: an intractable policy task?” is food for thought.
Thanks to James Waterson for providing additional research for this article
