Construction consultancy in city centre relocation
Construction consultancy Rex Procter & Partners has made its move to offices at Riverside West in Leeds city centre and work will now start redeveloping its previous premises into a student accommodation scheme.
The company has relocated into 5,300 sq ft of office space on the Whitehall Road development’s first floor.
Rex Procter, which also has offices in Bradford, London and Marlow, employs a team of 25 in Leeds and had previously spent 23 years at offices on Blenheim Walk, close to Leeds city centre’s main university campuses.
York-based developer S Harrison will now start work redeveloping the Blenheim Walk site, which sits between Leeds College of Art and the Leeds Student Medical Practice, into a seven-storey student accommodation scheme.
Once complete it will offer 180 en-suite bedrooms spread across 29 cluster apartments that will benefit from shared kitchen, living and dining spaces.
Andrew Cooper, managing director at Rex Procter & Partners, says: “Relocating to Riverside West is a fantastic opportunity and marks the start of a new chapter in our long history in Leeds city centre. It’s a landmark building that can accommodate our growing team and is close to Leeds railway station, the city centre’s main commercial hub and many of our clients are now on our doorstep, which all combines to make it an ideal location for us.
“Our previous building is a fantastic development opportunity and there’s no doubt S Harrison’s plans will breathe new life into the area. It will also complement all the other development work that’s underway in that part of the city, including Leeds College of Art’s transformational expansion and Leeds University’s new innovation centre, which are both projects we’re involved with. It’s been a pleasure working with S Harrison to get to this stage, and we look forward to seeing the company’s scheme come to fruition.”
Gavin Douglas, design manager from S Harrison, says: “It’s a really exciting time for Leeds city centre’s university area. Work is now underway next door on Leeds College of Art’s £14m expansion programme, which will see a modern five storey extension created, and we’re due to start on-site in April 2017, with work completing in time for the start of the 2018/19 academic year. Both schemes will significantly enhance the streetscape on one of North Leeds’s main routes into the city centre whilst also providing ideally placed, first-rate accommodation for students in Leeds.”
