First look at complex for 1,200 students planned off Mabgate in Leeds

The company Future Generation wants to build six blocks with space for around 1,200 students in more than 300 apartments and studios.

The buildings off Mabgate, named Hope Foundry after the street’s 19th century brass and iron works, could reach between two to 10 storeys in height, according to information recently submitted with a planning request to Leeds City Council.

Developers say that the UK’s first ever LED cinema could also be created at the site through a partnership with the telecommunications and electronics company Samsung.

If approved by council planners it is expected that the site would be completed by September 2021, providing en-suite rooms and studio apartments as part of a “regeneration” of Mabgate.

In a statement, the developers said: “The proposal will bring forward the comprehensive regeneration of this prominent site to create a vibrant mixed use neighbourhood.

“It will provide a high quality, innovative and sustainable development which enhances the historic environment and delivers new jobs, services and homes to meet the needs of a growing city and a new resident population.”

Some buildings currently at the site, bounded by Mabgate, Argyle Road, Macaulay Street and Mabgate Mills, may need to be demolished.

Permission was previously granted in 2010 for 425 residential units in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom properties.