Luxury apartments planned for former school in city centre
Leeds-based developer, Priestley Homes, has acquired 2 Great George Street in Leeds and submitted plans to create the city centre’s first £1m-plus penthouse apartments.
Subject to planning approval, Priestley Homes aims to transform the disused Grade II listed former Victorian school into 76 luxury apartments in a regeneration scheme worth £31m.
Each 3,000 sq ft penthouse will offer city views, floor to ceiling glazing, a private roof garden with hot tub, plus an indoor and outdoor kitchen bar area.
The building will feature one to three-bedroom apartments throughout, with the two-bedroom apartments on lower floors offering up to 1,500 sq ft of living space.
Nearly half of the apartments will also have a private outdoor area, with the addition of a communal roof-top garden.
The development will also feature a private, on-site residents’ gym and concierge facilities.
Located in the city’s Northern Civic Quarter, just off Millennium Square, 2 Great George Street sits within a major regeneration zone and cultural hub known for its Victorian architecture.
The building dates to the 1900s when it was home to Thoresby High School, an all-girls’ school.
In 1972, it merged with Leeds Central High School to form the new City of Leeds School, which later moved location in 1994 to Hyde Park. Following the move, the site was adapted to offices for Leeds City Council, with staff continuing to work there until 2018.
A new future for the building was consented to in 2018; however, the original plans to convert the former school into a 173-bed premium lifestyle hotel were not finalised. Since then, the council offices have sat empty.
Nathan Priestley, chief executive officer of the Priestley Group, said: “As a Leeds-based business, it’s great to be able to re-energise one of the grandest buildings in the city centre and transform it into must-have homes.
“We excel at breathing new life into heritage buildings with ambitious plans that are meticulously realised.
“Most of the development in Leeds city centre is allocated to student housing and PRS schemes.
“We believe there is a huge shortage of truly magnificent homes for owner-occupiers that give a taste of individuality and elegance; something that we will set out to deliver at 2 Great George Street.
“More attention is being directed at Leeds as an economic powerhouse in the North, with major organisations such as Channel 4 investing in the city. Demand for these properties is guaranteed to be strong when we launch the homes to market.”
Priestley Homes partnered with UK-wide specialist lender, Together, which provided a multi-million pound facility to help purchase the site.
Ritchie Watson, lending director from Together, said: “We have previously partnered with Priestley Homes on several of its award-winning schemes, including recent flagship development, Conditioning House in Bradford.
“We are proud to be able to provide the finance to create these luxury apartments in a prime area of Leeds city centre.”
The site was sold by Yorkshire-based property firm Fairbank Investments.
Antony Green, of Fairbank Investments, said: “We are very pleased to have achieved this outcome and Priestley Homes’ plans for the site are very impressive.
“We are really excited to see these plans come to fruition and they provide an exciting future for an historic listed building at the heart of the city centre.”
The planning application was lodged with Leeds City Council in February 2021, with a decision expected in late spring.
Main contractor, Priestley Construction, intends to begin work as soon as approval is granted, aiming for a quarter four 2022 completion.
