Major £300m development ‘will strengthen city’s cultural heart’, says theatre director
CULTURAL LEADERS in a Yorkshire city have welcomed ambitious plans for a £300m major redevelopment which they have claimed will bring a major boost for the arts and education.
Wetherby-based firm, Caddick Developments, will oversee the regeneration scheme that will transform the Quarry Hill area of Leeds with a six phase project to build 515 apartments by 2021, as well as a boutique spa hotel, public spaces and further developments of offices and student accommodation over five years.
reported yesterday that the so-called SOYO project will link with the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which is itself about to undergo a £14m facelift, and Leeds City College among other organisations to create a new neighbourhood.
The West Yorkshire Playhouse’s executive director, Robin Hawkes, said: “With the launch of SOYO, Caddick is helping strengthen the identity of the city’s cultural heart as an exciting and diverse place to be – at a time when the area is set for so many new developments, including the Playhouse’s own redevelopment.”
Wieke Eringa, the artistic director and CEO of Yorkshire Dance, added: “Yorkshire Dance is delighted to be playing its part in SOYO. This is a tremendously exciting consolidation of the work done by the arts organisations on Quarry Hill to make this a thriving cultural quarter.
“We’re looking forward to ever-closer relationships with our neighbours, old and new.”
Quarry Hill has a colourful history and snippets include the presence of a Roman fort in 122AD, isolation of bubonic plague victims in the 17th century and tales about the legend of Mary Bateman – hanged in 1809 for her alleged powers of witchcraft.
The Quarry Hill flats were demolished in 1978.