Worktostarton£47m city centre scheme

WORK gets under way on a huge hotel and office scheme in Leicester this month.

The boss of the construction and infrastructure company putting up the £47 million Leicester regeneration scheme said the city was riding the crest of a wave.

Sean Bowles is managing director of Morgan Sindall in the Midlands, which won a competitive tender to build the site in Vaughan Way.

The work is expected to be completed in autumn next year.

The four-and-half-acre site, being developed by property group, Charles Street Buildings, which has its headquarters in Thurmaston, will include two new hotels – one sixstorey and one 10-storey – 35,000 sq ft of office space, and a new public realm area, called Great Central Square.

Work will be carried out alongside the regeneration of the former Leicester Central train station and creation of a new car park for the hotels and office.

The new hotels alone will support 60 new jobs, and the extra visitor capacity is expected to bolster the city’s tourism industry.

There will be a 150room Novotel created alongside a 100-room “aparthotel” for Adagio.

The apartment hotel will offer people longerstay options with the convenience of a hotel.

Work is already under way on £43 million development next door which will provide almost 300 new flats. The apartments are expected to be finished in April 2019.

As part of the hotel complex plans, Morgan Sindall is carrying out a £3 million programme of highway improvements to Vaughan Way and Grand Central Station Street.

The work will see a “super-crossing” built over Vaughan Way, linking the development with the existing Highcross shopping centre.

The majority of the work will be completed at night, to minimise disruption to motorists.

Sean said: “Leicester is riding a wave of optimism and prosperity, on the back of a resurgent tourist industry.

“We worked closely with the city council to successfully deliver the Richard III Visitor Centre, which has helped maximise interest in the historic find.

“We’re incredibly pleased to be working with them, and with CSB, to deliver both this landmark scheme and the programme of important infrastructure upgrades.

“It will breathe new life into the Great Central station area and substantially improve the accommodation offer for visitors to the city.”

Joseph Murphy, director at Charles Street Buildings, said: “We’re very pleased to have appointed Morgan Sindall to deliver this landmark develop- ment which is set to drive much-needed regeneration in the Waterside area.

“Critical to the success of the scheme, and the resurgence of this part of Leicester, is the supercrossing which will reconnect the site with the Highcross shopping centre and the rest of the city.

“To get to this stage is testament to a pro-business local authority working collaboratively with a developer with long established local roots, and a main contractor with the dual capability to deliver an ambitious mixed-used scheme and a programme of infrastructure works.”

Leicester City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “The Connecting Leicester work taking place across the city has been vital in reconnecting important areas of the city, and the work on Vaughan Way is the next stage of that.

“The city’s Waterside area will be key in the next stage of creating business and office space, housing other community facilities, and needs to be better connected to the rest of the city centre.

“Vaughan Way is possibly the busiest part of the city’s inner ring road, providing access to many parts of the city including Highcross, the A50 and A6 arterial roads out of the city, St Margaret’s Bus Station, St Nicholas Circle and the Southgates underpass.

“Therefore it is vital we provide a well-located and safe crossing point for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as improving the existing road layout to ensure it meets modern needs.”