Riverside Sunderland celebrates topping out

Legal & General-backed commercial properties, Maker and Faber, which, combined, will create 150,000 sq ft of Grade A space for professional services firms, as well as exciting retailers on the ground floor, are already making their mark on the city, with the steel frames now fully erected.

Legal & General Chief Executive, Sir Nigel Wilson, made his way to the top of Maker for a traditional topping out ceremony this morning, alongside Sir Andrew McAlpine, Partner at Sir Robert McAlpine, Landid Managing Director, James Silver, as well as the Leader and Chief Executive of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Graeme Miller and Patrick Melia.  

Part of Riverside Sunderland - a mixed-use urban quarter that is extending the footprint of the city centre - Maker and Faber are two key new additions to the city’s property portfolio, that will attract businesses offering thousands of new jobs when they open their doors in 2024. They are part of Legal & General’s £100m commitment to the Riverside Sunderland site, alongside a further £60 million to transform the Hilthorn Park area for new economic development, delivering important infrastructure and regeneration which responds to the needs of the local area, and enables long term job creation.  

Maker and Faber are a key part of Riverside Sunderland, named Best Future Place at the prestigious Pineapple Awards, which will create a vibrant, mixed-use site, comprising 1,000 new homes for up to 2,500 new residents, as well as a range of new places to enjoy – including parkland both sides of the river, and ‘the UK’s best library’, Culture House - and 1m sq ft of office space. It will boost the number of people living and working in the heart of the city, creating a stronger daytime and evening economy by doubling the resident population of the city centre from 2,500 to 5,000 and increasing employment by 50% to 18,000.

Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Topping out is a key moment in the development of any new building, but the sense of tradition and occasion today made this extra special.  

“These are game-changing developments for Sunderland, and – as these two buildings top out – we move that step closer to realising the impact they will have, not only through the physical change they bring, but through the confidence they will give to our city centre traders who will reap the benefit of thousands more people on the doorstep by day and evening.”

Both buildings are being actively marketed by commercial property agents Knight Frank and JLL with Faber already having attracted its first tenant, RSA, bringing 400 jobs to the city centre.