Sales of council buildings leading new wave of developments

Ronan Faherty, chief executive of Idé Real Estate, said budget cuts had led to the public sector shedding vast swathes of their estates, creating major opportunities for developers.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, he said: “They tend to be attractive buildings and well-located. “They are not as functional as they once were and expensive to run so that creates big opportunities for developers.”

These buildings are also very popular which can often lead to over-pricing. Idé Real Estate competed against 13 initial bidders to buy a complex of three grade two-listed council buildings - Leonardo Building, Thoresby Building and Great George Street Building - in Leeds city centre.

“If you don’t buy at the right price it will haunt you down the line,” said Mr Faherty. The acquisition price for the project, currently known as the Northern Civic Quarter, is undisclosed but Mr Faherty said he believes Idé bought the buildings at the right price. “It’s assuming that we get the critical mass that we want but other than that, it was a good deal for all parties,” he said.

Idé, which held a consultation event for the project yesterday, is now drafting a full planning application for the business and lifestyle destination. It features serviced offices, two hotels, including one new build on an existing car park, and family-friendly public spaces.

It is Idé Real Estate’s biggest project to date and aims to change the way people live and work in the city centre.

The office space would either be run locally or by an international operator, such as WeWork. It would be aimed at supporting start-up companies in the education and healthcare sectors from the nearby universities as part of the city’s emerging innovation district.

Part of the plan includes teaming up with WiredScore, the digital connectivity rating scheme, to ensure it ranks among the top buildings for connectivity.

Mr Faherty, who was part of the Land Securities team behind the construction of Trinity Leeds in 2013, said: “The whole work environment has changed so much. Operators like WeWork brought a different dynamic and a different energy to the market and it’s the way forward.”

Meanwhile, the scheme would include a ‘lifestyle’ hotel, similar to The Hoxton in London, which focuses on providing a welcoming space for both guests and non-guests as guests, alongside a more traditional hotel.

“New hotels are revolutionising the way things work. We want to use that to create a critical mass for the whole development,” said Mr Faherty.

He said he was 100 per cent confident the scheme would be delivered, despite a number of challenges, including the design of new main entrance off Millennium Square and incorporating the old and the new elements of the scheme.

“The way we act and the way we live has changed,” said Mr Faherty. “Most of our target market want to live, work and play in the area they like. If you can bring it all together in a sense of place then I think people buy into it.”

A full planning application is due to be submitted in the summer. Faherty hopes to start the two-year project in January.