Cultural Quarter properties to be snapped up by city council

Five properties in Leicester’s St George’s Cultural Quarter are to be bought by the city council at a cost of £1.6m.

Leicester City Council said the purchases would support its “long-term ambitions to develop and transform the area”.

It has not specified which properties it is buying but said it would confirm their identities once the deals had gone through.

The authority has said it wants to create a vibrant community in the quarter, which lies around the Curve theatre, combining a mix of cultural facilities, leisure, the arts, urban living and creative sector jobs.

It has also said that owning the properties would make it easier to get government funding for future schemes in the area, BBC News reported.