Work begins on £350m city centre development

Work starts this week on a £350m six-acre development in the heart of Leeds South Bank.

Local company, Sirius, has been appointed to manage the demolition of the warehouse on Water Lane. The demolition programme will take six-weeks and then a six-month programme of archaeological excavation to record previously identified remains on the site,  which housed John Marshall’s (king of the flax industry) first two Mills in this area of Holbeck in the eighteenth century and has witnessed significant redevelopment over the last Century.

It is a CEG development, and the firm has invested £300,000 into securing the Grade II listed bridge which formed a historic route for the Marshall empire and will once again form a physical link over Hol Beck, connecting Water Lane and Marshall Street to CEG’s new development at Globe Road.

This, together with five other bridge crossings, will create links between the city, the wider South Bank area and existing local communities.

CEG is already marketing its South Bank development, which has detailed planning permission for two office developments with ground floor retail and leisure totalling up to 26,100 sq m and outline planning permission for mixed-use development of up to 103,900 sq m of offices, retail, leisure, hotel, health and community uses, parking and up to 750 new homes, along with new public spaces and landscaping.

David Hodgson, head of strategic development north for CEG, said: “We’ve already had a great deal of interest from company’s seeking headquarter office space just minutes from Leeds City Station.

“We will be ready to start construction this summer on the two office developments which have detailed planning permission. This, along with the retail, leisure, hotel, residential and community uses, benefitting from innovative outdoor spaces and the waterfront, will bring a strategic development of a critical mass and international standard, putting South Bank Leeds on the map as a place to live, work and enjoy.”

The scheme is expected to act as the catalyst to kick-start the regeneration of an area of the City Centre which for many years has seen planning permissions granted but not built out.

The proposals will:

• Deliver up to 750 new homes, workplaces, shops, cafés and restaurants
• Provide the wider community with attractive new places to walk, rest and enjoy
• Create thousands of new job opportunities
• Design inspiring buildings which will put Leeds on the map as a key European destination
• Retain the two-storey printworks building façade as a feature within the design
• Improve connectivity

Jon Kenny, Strategic Development Director of CEG, said: “This is an exceptional opportunity to breathe life back into these, creating locally and nationally important iconic landmark buildings and innovative public spaces. This is not just about building on a historic legacy; it is about creating a new one.”