Planning granted for 14-storey Leeds hotel which will create 80 new jobs

Developer Marrico Asset Management submitted an application to Leeds City Council last year for the development at Sovereign Square.

It plans to build a 331-bedroom hotel comprising short and extended stay hotel rooms.

The proposal includes a restaurant and bar at ground level.

The project, which will support around 190 construction jobs during the building period, represents the final development plot in the Sovereign Street Planning Statement.

Two office buildings, occupied by KPMG and Addleshaw Goddard, were built in 2015 and 2016 respectively, as well as the £250,000 Sovereign Square greenspace.

The council has now granted planning permission for the hotel, subject to conditions.

A planning officer’s report said: “The proposal offers the opportunity to complete the successful regeneration of the award-winning Sovereign Square, complement the recent developments and public greenspace, and has the potential to be an addition worthy of its location, by successfully integrating into the square and delivering new pedestrian connections.”

Sixteen short stay visitor cycle parking spaces will be provided within the public space to the south west of the hotel building.

There will be 30 long‐stay cycle parking spaces for employees within the back of house areas at the ground floor, along with showering and changing facilities

An independent wind assessment, which was carried out on the site, concluded that the wind environment would be acceptable for all users in the vicinity of the building and that the building is unlikely to generate wind conditions that would cause distress to pedestrians, or result in a danger to high-sided or other road vehicles.

The reassurance comes after specially-designed structures to block high winds were installed around nearby Bridgewater Place, Yorkshire’s tallest building, in 2017 following the death of Dr Edward Slaney who was killed when a lorry blew over in 2011.

The hotel project team includes DLA Design, re-form, RBA, CSD, Curtins, Quod, Stroma, MRB, DBX and RWDI.

GMI Construction Group was named as the contractor last year.

The building will be faced with a mix of terracotta red and a light beige brickwork.

The ground floor frontages will be behind a colonnade, which will feature recessed detailing around the ‘arch’-heads and down the columns, with “a fully glazed frontage” behind.

There will be two entrances to the hotel, both accessed from Sovereign Square.

The front of the hotel is designed to integrate and be accessible from the adjacent public space.

The Sovereign Street Planning Statement was drafted in 2011 to redevelop a car park, formerly The Queen’s Hall.

The former tram shed hosted a wide variety events, including an early performance from the Beatles in 1963, until it was demolished in 1989.

It saw many famous gigs like the Futurma festivals that in 1979 featured Joy Division.

Other bands to play at the cavernous venue over the decades included the Clash, the Faces and Roxy Music.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson