HOUSEBUILDER Wilson Bowden has bought 227 acres of the land at the former RAF Burtonwood site near Warrington in a é90m deal.
The brown-field site, acquired from the Ministry of Defence, will be developed into an urban village comprising of 2,000 new homes.
Also included in the scheme are commercial and retail units, along with transport facilities and a public park.
RAF Burtonwood is two miles north west of Warrington and close to Junction 8 of the M62 motorway in Cheshire.
It is also home to the Omega Park, the new seven million sq ft industrial and office development.
Group chairman and chief executive David Wilson said: "I am delighted that David Wilson Homes has secured this major development opportunity.
"This is one of the few major land allocations in the north west and its comparatively straightforward infrastructure and the existing four site accesses give opportunities for early development of the site."
Mr Wilson added that building on a wide range of housing would start in the spring.
Green light
There were fears that the site could be contaminated with radioactive materials from luminous paint used on aircraft dials, but the risks were seen as minimal and proposals for the self-contained community development were given the green light.
Wilson Bowden's development in Warrington is its biggest foray into the region to date.
A residential scheme in Widnes was completed last year and there are a further two developments in Manchester, one in Chorlton and the other in Whalley Range.
Mike Stansfield, chief executive of David Wilson Homes, said: "Burtonwood is a tremendous opportunity for us to increase our presence in the north west.
"Warrington has excellent transport links, low unemployment and a growing population and this acquisition will expand our interest in the whole of the area. We will also be looking for more sites as they become available."
The acquisition of the mixed-use site poured water on rumours that NATO was drawing up secret plans to build a massive communications centre on adjacent Omega Park site.
It was reported that NATO was attracted to the park because of its size and because it has a good electricity supply without overhead pylons to disrupt communications.
A spokeswoman for English Partnerships, which owns the massive site, said NATO had made enquiries earlier in the year but that there had been no formal expressions of interest. Tweet