Flats plan for former Briggate store goes to planners

DETAILED PLANS to convert the former Debenhams building in Leeds city centre into student flats will go before planning chiefs in the city.

A scheme submitted for the Briggate landmark by Orchard Street Investment Management will include the redevelopment of the building while also adding a rooftop extension.

The development will include 124 bed spaces in 107 student flats. Ninety of these will be studio flats, while a further 17 will be dual-occupancy studios, termed “twodios” – effectively one room with two double beds.

Four communal areas are proposed, with a new “courtyard wellness garden” in the centre of the former department store from the second floor up and covering 240 square metres.

A smaller communal roof terrace is also proposed, while two lounges and a study room are also included in the scheme.

It would also mean demolishing the current rooftop extension, built in the 1980s.

A report into the proposals by Leeds Council planning officials stated: “It is considered the proposal would result in a high-quality, appropriate development.

“The scheme would bring active use to an important, historic building and would add to the vibrancy and vitality of the area and further its regeneration.

“The proposals would allow important under-used historic areas of the listed building to be brought back into use and while it is acknowledged there will be some (but not substantial) harm by virtue of the extent of demolition and alterations, this is of a tolerable level when balanced against the public benefits of the regeneration of the building.”

Leeds Council’s City Plans Panel will discuss the scheme on Thursday.