While individual shops in Cornmarket may come and go, a major development scheme will soon bring major changes.

The £40m Jesus College scheme to provide new shops and student accommodation in Cornmarket is close to completion and the new Cheng Yu Tung Building, formerly Northgate House, will open early next year.

The building, which is due to be completed by the end of the year, has been named in honour of the father of one of the project’s major donors – Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Henry Cheng, through his London-based property company Knight Dragon.

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Shoppers in Cornmarket can now see the four upper storeys.

Three floors are being taken up with new postgraduate student accommodation, part of a total of 64 new ensuite rooms.

The ground floor and first floor will be dedicated retail space and the college is currently in talks with a number of potential retail partners interested in moving in.

WH Smith and Boots the chemist are expected to remain but it is not yet known which other retailers will join them.

Stonemasons have been working their way up the Market Street elevation to the Tower Room, soon to be home to a new events and exhibition space for the college.

Cladding work on the fourth quad, which will unite the historic and contemporary elements of the college, is already completed.

Inside, a range of tradesmen – from plasterers and plumbers to electricians and carpet-layers – have been on site as the fit-out progresses, overseen by the college’s construction partners BAM.

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Work has also started on the development of the new state-of-the-art NHS Primary Care Centre in the basement of the building.

The new medical centre, combining the surgeries of King Edward Street, 27 and 28 Beaumont Street, aims to improve primary care access and other healthcare services for 20,000 patients in the city.

Plans include 27 consulting and treatment rooms and a minor operations suite, plus space for mental health workers, physiotherapists, paramedics and clinical pharmacists. The new centre will open in spring 2022.

David Stevenson, Jesus College’s property director with responsibility for the Cheng Yu Tung Building development, said earlier: “Despite the challenges of the past 18 months, and subsequent pressures on workforce and suppliers that all such construction projects have faced, we are pleased that we have been able to continue work on the building throughout.”

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Building work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, with an opening ceremony in spring 2022. In a separate scheme, work is progressing well to convert the nearby former Boswells store into a new Reef Group 101-bedroom hotel.