The gateway to city becoming number three retail destination

LEEDS is poised to become the third biggest shopping destination in England if plans for the £700m Victoria Gate development get the go ahead.

The site, which was previously called the Eastgate Quarters, will help the city move from sixth place in the retail league table to third, behind London and Birmingham.

At the moment Leeds is in sixth place, but the opening of the £350m Trinity Leeds scheme in March is expected to propel Leeds into fourth over the coming year.

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Hammerson, the developer behind Victoria Gate, said the new development will enable Leeds to leapfrog Manchester to take the number three slot once it opens in 2016.

A major public consultation exercise was carried out last month on the proposed scheme.

Hammerson said the plans had received an “overwhelmingly positive response” during the event, which attracted 3,500 people over four days and took place in Kirkgate Market and the Victoria Quarter.

Joe Swindells, Hammerson’s project director for Victoria Gate, said the positive feedback gives him confidence that Victoria Gate will be an important addition to Leeds and will be welcomed by the public.

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Incorporating a flagship John Lewis department store and a Marks & Spencer, the Victoria Gate project aims to breathe new life into the area around Eastgate, the Headrow and Lady Lane.

“We’re fully committed to creating a development which will regenerate Eastgate while still retaining the area’s charm and heritage,” said Mr Swindells.

Much of the public’s support for the scheme stems from its sensitive and innovative design plans, which acknowledge both the need for a modern development and one that fits in with its surroundings.

Last September Hammerson bought the upmarket Victoria Quarter development on the other side of Eastgate from the former Victoria Gate Arcade, which is now to be called Victoria Gate.

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The new development will house 30 shops and five restaurants.

Mr Swindells said Hammerson is in discussion with a number of retailers and the plan is to make the scheme highly aspirational.

He said that the new scheme will be very different to the £350m Trinity Leeds shopping development, which has exceeded expectations since it opened in March. “Trinity Leeds is young fashion and mass market. We’re a tier up the market demographic,” said Mr Swindells.

“We’re more like South Molton Street in London,” he said, referring to the upmarket pedestrianised street south of Bond Street in the heart of London’s West End.

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“If you look at the Victoria Quarter, your shopper goes there as a treat. Older, successful shoppers visit it as their first port of call.

“John Lewis will bring in shoppers who don’t shop in Leeds. It’s the John Lewis effect. You can go to the store and find everything you want from buttons and needles to fashion and beauty.”

The new John Lewis will be the partnership’s largest English store outside of London at 255,000 to 260,000 sq ft.

“John Lewis is extremely keen to come to Leeds,” said Friedrich Ludewig, director of ACME, the architectural firm that won the pitch for the project.

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Hammerson’s plan is to ask the upmarket retailers in the Victoria Quarter, which include Ted Baker, Vivienne Westwood, Karen Millen, French Connection, Diesel, Space NK, Hobbs, All Saints, Jigsaw and the first Harvey Nichols store outside London, if they would like to move to bigger premises at Victoria Gate.

“We can ask retailers if they are happy with the space they currently have,” said Mr Swindells.

“Victoria Quarter is very ornate and boutiquey, but very small.

“Retailers may see the opportunity to upsize to a larger store in Victoria Gate.

“That’s the beauty of having control of both.”

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The new Victoria Gate space will be positioned between Harvey Nichols and John Lewis.

“There will be a nice car park on the right so customers will feel safe buying a £1,000 Louis Vuitton handbag,” added Mr Swindells.

ACME’s plan is that the multi-storey car park will be fashioned out of metal “fins”, adding to the contemporary feel of the site.

Parking will be located adjacent to John Lewis on the soon to be vacated Milgarth Police Station site.

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It was up to Mr Ludewig at ACME to come up with architectural plans that pay homage to the Grade II listed, Frank Matcham-designed, Victoria Quarter while also creating a modern building.

Plans for the eight-storey white Terracotta building include a roof that Mr Ludewig says was inspired by the Corn Exchange, but with the contemporary reference of the new, highly acclaimed Kings Cross station in London.

“It has become very apparent that people want buildings built out of Leeds’ architectural heritage,” said Mr Ludewig.

“They don’t want a building that looks like it’s landed from outer space.

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“People can see the story, see the linkage. They already feel connected to it.”

The developer behind Trinity Leeds, Land Securities, has welcomed plans for the Victoria Gate development.

Gerald Jennings, the portfolio manager for the north at Land Securities, said: “My view is that John Lewis and the new retailers will act as a complementary offer to Trinity Leeds.

“We desperately need a John Lewis and it will bring more people into Leeds.

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“Victoria Quarter is about high end European and American retailers. It won’t be competition, it will be complementary.”

“It won’t be a competitive environment,” he added.

Mr Swindells believes that Trinity Leeds, Victoria Quarter and Victoria Gate can all live in harmony.

“We have a good working relationship with Land Securities and we need to make sure that cannibalism doesn’t happen.

“We need the economy to improve and we need Trinity Leeds to settle down,” he said.

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“At the moment a lot of spend is leaking out of Leeds and going to Manchester and London.

“It’s about bringing new retailers in and making Leeds one of the top destinations in the country.”