Work begins to construct 245 homes at major regeneration site

Work has started to build 245 homes at the Tower Works site on Globe Road in the South Bank area of Leeds city centre.

Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd has begun ground works on the 1.13 hectare site and construction is expected to complete in early 2023.

The scheme has been designed by Ryder Architecture and it is expected up to 275  local jobs will be created during the construction phase.

The £57m Tower Works scheme is being delivered by Richardson and Ask Real Estate in conjunction with Homes England and with funding from Legal & General’s Build to Rent Fund (BTR Fund) and Access Development Partnership (a joint venture between Legal & General Capital and PGGM).

The site has had a torrid time, having been first approved in 2016 to include 158 homes for private sale, 100,000 sq ft of office space and 20,000 sq ft of retail space.

However, following comments by the Homes and Communities Agency, the predecessor to Homes England, that said the private sale homes posed “unacceptably high-risk and questionable commercial viability”, it underwent design changes.

This was followed by the collapse of the site’s main contractor, Carillon, in 2018.

The site obtained a new planning consent for phase one of the scheme last year, which includes 245 BTR units, however work was further delayed by the pandemic – with Homes England extending the development period of the site.

When complete Tower Works will provide two residential buildings with one, two and three-bedroom build to rent apartments and duplexes to the south of the railway station.

The scheme design includes a pedestrian route which will connect the communities in Holbeck and Beeston Hill with Leeds city centre and three new public squares designed around each of the site’s iconic chimneys.

Ben Holmes, real estate director at Richardson, said: “We are pleased to be on site and looking forward to making swift progress in delivering these superb new homes and at the same time writing the next chapter in the history of Tower Works.

“The site’s three landmark towers, Giotto, Verona and Little Chimney are very much part of the Leeds skyline and they form a unique focal point for the scheme, being pretty much the first thing you see as you enter the city by train.

“Richardson and Ask are really proud to be regenerating this great location and in doing so creating new homes and public open spaces, delivering a bright new future for these superb Grade II listed structures.”

Mark Gibson, managing director at Sir Robert McAlpine for UK North, said: “It is great to see this superb historic site move forward to deliver much needed housing for the Leeds city centre.

“We are already involved in the regeneration of the South Bank area of the city centre so moving forward with Tower Works means we will be able to continue to provide jobs for the skilled local workforce.”

John Hughes, managing director of Ask Real Estate added “This is an especially important scheme for Ask as we have been delivering regeneration projects for twenty years, working right across the northern belt from Gateshead to Manchester.

“We are proud to be continuing our track record of delivering creative and bold regeneration solutions such Tower Works.”

Commenting on the provision of additional new homes for Leeds, Jon Irvine, director of development from Homes England said: “We are working with the city council to try to unlock a number of sites in the city centre of Leeds, and we hope this is the first of many sites in the city centre that we can support to deliver new homes.

“Our work in Leeds is part of a broader effort working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to unlock a housing growth opportunities across the city region.”

Tower Works has a rich industrial history. Established in the 1860s as a steel pin factory for carding and combing in the textile industry, the works closed in 1981 and have been earmarked for regeneration for many years.

The delivery team also includes: project managers and QS Faithful and Gould; Structural and civil engineer, Renaissance; landscape architect, Oobe and engineering firm WSP.