Kickstart for city centre as fresh proposal goes in at landmark site

Detailed planning applications have been submitted for No.3 and No.10 Wellington Place to drive forward the development, which was put on hold during the recession.

The two buildings of 100,000 sq ft and 35,000 sq ft are located next to one another at the northern end of the site.

It is welcome news for the Leeds City Council which last received a planning application to build a new office development from scratch 14 months ago. A spokesman for the council's planning department said there has been renewed interest from developers in the city's office market in the last couple of months.

He said: "In the last two or three months we have seen evidence of renewed interest in the form of Wellington Place and other developers who are involved in pre-application discussions on office space in prime locations close to the train station.

"We are more optimistic than we were but these discussions need to be followed through into applications and subsequent construction on site, which takes time.

"What we can say is that the market is preparing itself for the upturn in office lettings, although most of the development work at the moment is focused on refurbishment rather than new buildings. There is empty space on the market but we would hope that there are more lettings to improve our status as a city and create new jobs."

However, he added that the Government's public sector cuts could impact on the city's ability to push the button on commercial development.

"At the moment, we don't know what impact the cuts will have but we are cautiously optimistic about the future," he said.

Meanwhile, No.7 Wellington Place, which has detailed planning permission, is being marketed to prospective tenants.

MEPC developed two buildings at the 1.5m sq ft development before the recession but the rest of the scheme was put on hold.

The company received outline planning permission for the 20m No.3 Wellington place and the 4m No.10 Wellington Place at the end of 2008.

The height of the total scheme has been reduced by half since the economic downturn with no building rising above six floors and instead

of steel and glass the buildings will be made out of brick and stone.

Earlier this year, MEPC sold 120,000 sq ft Benson House for 20m to free up capital within the group and fund further development at Wellington Place.

During the recession, the developer spent 1m turning part of the site into a "city centre resource" with urban gardens and a five-a-side football pitch.

The work outlined a new walkway, Wellington Place Boulevard, and exposed the view of the historic lifting tower from Whitehall Road. It also opened up Northern Street to create more open space surrounding the site.

The 19th century lifting tower was used for locomotives and rolling stock when the site was occupied by railway sidings and a station, which closed in the mid-20th century.

Andrew Barlow, managing director of MEPC, said: "We feel positive about the future expansion of Wellington Place and our recent 1m investment into the greening of the site demonstrates our commitment to its continued growth and to the city of Leeds."

Once completed, Wellington Place will deliver a new urban quarter in Leeds city centre, including offices, restaurants, cafes and apartments

A PLACE FOR URBAN GARDENERS

MEPC's Wellington Place is offering companies the chance to grow their own fruit and veg in the city for a year in one of their urban gardens.

The 6ft by 4 ft ft urban garden will provide the winning company the opportunity to team build, sharing the chance to tend the garden for 12 months, between all employees.

Twenty-one small urban gardens have already been snapped up by surrounding companies.

They were developed as part of MEPC's pledge to create a vibrant, business community during the downturn. It invested 1m in turning part

of its 22-acre Wellington Place site into an area that could be enjoyed by those who live and work in the surrounding area.

To win the chance of becoming part of the city centre resource, email [email protected] by Tuesday, July 20 with the reason your company

should be the one to tend to the urban garden up for grabs.