Leeds South Bank sees bumper year for developments as council's regeneration plan continues

The £500m South Bank regeneration project, first put forward by Leeds City Council in 2011, is one of Europe's largest regeneration projects. The aim of the project is to eventually double the size of Leeds city centre.

Speaking at Deloitte’s Crane Survey launch event last week, which was held in CEG’S newly developed Globe Point in Leeds South Bank, Angela Barnicle, chief officer asset management & regeneration at Leeds City Council, said: “I’m so proud to sit here in this building overlooking not just cranes, but activity that is coming forward in the South Bank, that only ten years ago was just a line in a plan.

“And how proud I am of this community that has really made it happen.”

Significant developments in the area include the Guinness Partnership’s Points Cross development, as well as City Life’s The Radius.

Points Cross is a regeneration project with planning permission for 982 homes, 35 per cent of which are set to be affordable housing, with a large per cent also marked for shared ownership.

Out of the 15 residential developments currently under construction across the city, six are located at Leeds South Bank.

Nolan Tucker, director at Deloitte Real Assets Advisory, noted how the development of the South Bank was part of a trend which has seen the city becoming less concentrated around its centre.

He said: “If you have a look at specially where the developments are coming forward this year, it is actually less concentrated than it has been before, in that we’re actually seeing developments in the city spreading out beyond the traditional barriers of the river and the inner ring road.”

As well as housing, the South Bank area has also seen developments in the public realm, including the completion of the David Oluwale Bridge, which connects the South Bank to the wider city core.

The six acre Aire Park site, developed by Vastint, is also under construction, which is set to be the largest green space in the city centre.

For the wider city region, Deloitte’s survey results showed that last year Leeds had the second highest number of construction projects since records began in 2007.

The figures showed a total of 22 new construction projects started throughout the year.

Ms Barnicle said the positive results were in part due to the city’s investment in public spaces.

She added: “What the results have shown is that when you invest in the places between buildings, you give the market confidence.

"Aire Park, The David Oluwale Bridge, the investment shows it's not just the buildings themselves, but how you create that vibrancy around communities.

“When the David Oluwale bridge opened last week, that was a significant piece of connectivity. It's about connecting Hunslet, the high schools, and the further education colleges into the city centre.

"There's nothing that shows aspiration like being able to walk through somewhere.”