Plans for £300m city development unveiled
A MAJOR regeneration project close to the heart of a Yorkshire city will provide a “game-changing” transformation with a fiveyear re-development programme worth as much as £300m.
Wetherby-based firm Caddick Developments last night revealed detailed plans to create a new neighbourhood in the Quarry Hill area of Leeds, which will be called SOYO (SOuth of YOrk Road) with apartments, bars, restaurants, a hotel and public realm spaces.
It is the first major scheme on the site since the Quarry Hill flats were demolished in the 1970s, and the land has more recently been used as a car park.
Work on the development will be delivered over six planned phases and, speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post prior to launching the scheme at an event in the city last night, Myles Hartley, the managing director at Caddick Developments, revealed that his firm hoped to be on site with the first stage of the scheme by spring next year.
That will see two apartment blocks providing 515 hotel-style apartments for rent, via a private rented sector (PRS) model.
At the same time, work will be on-going to build a boutique spa hotel from a brand that will be new to Leeds, and create public realm spaces, including a link to and from the recently-developed John Lewis store and Victoria Gate shopping centres.
Mr Hartley, whose firm was also behind the Trinity Leeds and Carnegie stadium development said: “It really is game-changing, the next chapter for the city.”
Mr Hartley said they had not wanted to create a scheme of this nature in isolation and were working closely with other businesses and organisations, particularly from the culture and arts sectors of the city.
He added: “Quarry Hill has a rich history but we feel we want to bring that right up-todate.
There has been a lot of work behind the scenes but we are very close to aligning all that and will be excited to see the first shovel in the ground next spring.”
Caddick Developments has owned the site since 2014 and been working on the project prior to that but say it is “the right time” to press ahead with the regeneration project.
Last month, outline planning permission was granted and more detailed information will be submitted to Leeds City Council within days.
It is expected to take three years to complete the apartments and the hotel.
The three remaining phases include residential, office and student accommodation.
While SOYO is a development in its own right, Caddick Developments has been working with the likes of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, set to have a £14m facelift, and Leeds City College, which has invested £57m into its new campus in the area, for a far-reaching transformation to Quarry Hill.
Mr Hartley added: “It is a unique part of the city and nowhere has got that range of cultural offering.
“We did not want a scheme that was just ours in isolation, we wanted to work together celebrate and shout loud and collective.”