Plans for 37-storey building in spotlight
PLANS TO build one of the tallest buildings in the North of England are to move a step closer as they go before decision-makers in a Yorkshire city next week.
But planning chiefs have confirmed that they will only approve the 37-storey structure on Wade Lane in Leeds if developers contribute nearly £500,000 towards improvements to the city’s infrastructure.
The block would rival the city’s existing high-rise constructions such as Bridgewater Place and Sky Plaza – and developers hope to start work as early as autumn this year.
It would be built close to the Merrion Centre and Leeds Arena, and is hoped to house more than 750 students.
Wind mitigation measures, which developers call “totem structures”, would also be put in place.
The development would mean knocking down Hulme House, an office block which currently sits on the site.
A report set to go before Leeds City Council’s City Plans Panel says developers Olympian Homes should commit to spending on the wider area to mitigate the building’s impact under a so-called Section 106 agreement.
Parts of the proposed agreement include contributing £430,000 towards highway improvements, as well as local employment and training initiatives.
The developers hope to start work on the site as early as October this year and could be finished by 2021.
Plans to build on the site have been around for a couple of years, with an earlier application for a 40-storey building rejected back in 2016.
Current plans emerged in February this year, where councillors decided it would be acceptable to use the site for student accommodation.
The plan will be discussed by Leeds’s City Plans Panel on Thursday July 12.