Work begins on latest stage of Leeds city centre revamp
A ground-breaking ceremony took place yesterday at the Portland Crescent site that will be home to the Hilton Leeds Arena hotel.
Ian De-Whytell, boss of city-based Crash Records and a vocal champion of the arena scheme, said: “It’s great to see another member of rock music’s aristocracy making a long overdue visit to Leeds.
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Hide Ad“It’s a huge coup for the arena and shows what a massive impact the venue has made.
“You can already see the positive benefit it has had on that part of the city centre.”
The £34m hotel will boast around 200 bedrooms across 14 floors. Stand-out features include what bosses say will be a “signature” sky-bar offering stunning views of the Leeds City Council-backed arena.
The hotel will be owned by Wakefield-based developer GB Group but run under the Hilton brand by management specialists Redefine BDL.
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Hide AdNearly £5m of funding for the scheme has been provided by the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), a collection of councils and business leaders working to create jobs for the area. It is estimated that the hotel will add about £43m to the value of the city region’s economy by 2026.
Up to 370 short-term jobs will be created during construction, along with more than 100 long-term posts following autumn 2015’s opening. Guests at yesterday’s ground-breaking ceremony included GB Group executive chairman Martin Smout, Leeds City Region LEP chairman Roger Marsh and Hilton Worldwide’s Nick Smart.
Mr Smout said: “We are extremely proud of the fact that this is the only new upscale hotel development north of the M25 in the last five years.
“This scheme in the up-and-coming entertainment quarter of the city will provide many short-term and some longer-term jobs once the hotel is open.”
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Hide AdOne of the city council’s main reasons for developing the £60m arena was the hope that it would breathe new life into its surrounding area.
Previously-announced projects for the arena quarter include a 10-storey serviced apartment block on Merrion Way and a revamp of the Merrion shopping centre.