Green light for major city centre office scheme at gateway site
Plans to redevelop a landmark site in Leeds city centre to deliver new workspace have been approved by the city’s council.
A joint venture partnership between Asset Capital and Prescient Capital last year purchased Wellington Plaza, a prominent 1980s former HQ building on Wellington Street, with plans for the redevelopment.
The partnership has confirmed its intent to fund and deliver the £50m scheme speculatively with a start on site by early 2024.
Designed by Leeds-based DLA Architecture, the approved plans will increase floor space availability from 21,000 sq ft to 77,000 sq ft with Grade A specification floorplates up to 10,000 sq ft. There will also be a total redesign of the building’s façade.
Communal spaces will include a large roof top terrace, a sky lounge, and a business lounge linked into reception for occupiers and their guests.
Daniel Newett, CEO at Asset Capital, said: “This important building in Leeds city centre has lain vacant for some time now.
“We have plans to not only bring the site in line with its neighbouring Grade A premises but surpass this with a specification that the city has not yet seen, redefining the term ‘super prime’.
“We are very much repurposing an existing building, in line with our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, to provide an inspirational, collaborative, sustainable and futureproof working environment that is worthy of a leading European city for business.”
Fox Lloyd Jones, strategic property advisors, have been appointed joint office leasing agents for the scheme alongside Cushman & Wakefield and Knight Frank. Society Studios is appointed as branding and marketing consultants for the scheme.
Adam Cockroft at Cushman & Wakefield said: “Wellington Plaza will offer much needed, new, super prime office accommodation with a level of specification and ESG credentials that Leeds city centre has not yet seen.
“Several pre-let discussions are already underway, confirming that the desirability for such high-quality workspace in a prime city centre location is still high.”
Nick Salkeld, director at Fox Lloyd Jones, added: “Wellington Plaza’s speculative development is a huge boost for the critically undersupplied Leeds office market.
“There remains an underlying ‘flight to quality’ with Grade A demand accounting for almost 80% of take up which has seen headline rents continue to rise.”
The development is expected to achieve completion for occupation by spring 2026.
