Property group to spend £20m on city revamp

The Leeds-based company, which owns a number of buildings in and around the Bond Court area of the city, said it was encouraged by recent movement in the Leeds office market.

The first building to be refurbished is Minerva House, which will be known as Minerva, based on East Parade.

Evans will spend £5m on transforming both the inside and outside of the nine-storey building, which is currently occupied by Sports Council, Blackrock Executive and Illiad Solutions.

Clegg Construction will carry out the refurbishment programme, which started this week and is due to be completed in March 2014.

The eight-month project includes updating six floors of offices as well as external work which will transform the appearance of the building, which last had a makeover in the late Eighties.

Evans’ portfolio director Alan Syers said: “This significant investment into a speculative refurbishment at Minerva House demonstrates our continued commitment to Leeds and our confidence in the city’s office market.

“The landmark building occupies one of the best locations in heart of the traditional office core of Leeds and after the investment, will offer the highest quality refurbished offices too.

“The scheme has been designed and specified to the very highest standards utilising high quality materials and finishes all of which combine to set a new benchmark for Leeds.

“We are looking forward to seeing the work progress and to attracting new occupiers.”

The existing tenants have moved into three floors to enable the first phase of works on the remaining six floors, which cove a total 30,568 sq ft.

The communal areas within the building will also be fully refurbished.

The empty office space, which ranges from a 10 person office upwards, is being marketed by joint letting agents CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle.

Award-winning interior designer Katharine Pooley, whose previous projects include the interiors for the Royal and VIP Lounges at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, will create a new ground floor and reception area.

Mr Syers said Minerva was the first part of a long-term strategic investment plan for the area, which includes the future transformation of Capitol House and the former Greek Street car park as well as the areas of public realm around the buildings.

“There’s no point in doing one building and not the others,” he said. “This is part of our long-term strategic investment in the city.”

He added: “We believe that Leeds city centre is under-supplied with grade A office space following the recent take up of new buildings so we believe the timing is right.”

Evans’ investment in the area follows the announcement in May that Leeds City Council and Wilton Developments will transform the Bond Court plaza space.

Six new trees, granite repaving and high-quality seating will feature in the upgrade of Bond Court, which is located between Park Row, Greek Street, East Parade and Infirmary Street.

The Bond Court scheme will complement the investment made by Midland House into their building at 2 Bond Court, which was formerly known as Midland House. The project included the opening up of retail units to the square, which have accommodated Costa Coffee on the corner of Bond Court.

Speaking about the Evans investment, Alex Hailey, of CBRE, said; “This is the optimum time for Evans to be making such a strong investment into the city’s office stock as we currently have limited Grade A space and a real requirement for quality offices of this nature.”

Jeff Pearey, of Jones Lang LaSalle, added: “Businesses still highly value Leeds’s traditional office core and Minerva is in one of the most coveted locations. We anticipate significant levels of interest in this space.”

Evans has a net asset value of £350m, including White Rose Shopping Centre, residential schemes at York University and Rotherham Council’s headquarters.

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