The opening of the Wolsey Building extracare scheme has seen the first phase take shape of the regeneration of the Abbey Meadows area of Leicester.

The £14.4 million scheme has transformed the disused Sangra building on Abbey Park Street into 103 new homes comprising 63 Extra Care apartments for older people and 40 affordable homes for rent and low-cost home ownership.

The project has been developed by housing and regeneration group, LHA-ASRA in partnership with Loughborough-based contractor and developer, William Davis Ltd, Leicester City Council and The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), who made an investment of £7.2 million.

The completion of The Wolsey Building, which is a new-build scheme but retaining the original façade to one side, forms the first of a two phase project which will also see the adjacent Abbey Mills building being re-developed to create further new homes.

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The HCA has also invested in the former British Shoe Factory (BUSM) site nearby as part of a strategic approach to boost regeneration in this area Leicester.

Leicester's City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who officially opened the scheme, said: "This is great news. The transformation of this landmark building gives a new lease of life to this derelict site, and creates much-needed new housing for the city."

Kitt McGrath, Area Manager for the HCA, said: "We are really pleased to see this excellent project completed. It is just one element of over £11 million of investment that we are injecting into the wider Abbey Meadows area to boost regeneration and provide high quality, new affordable homes for local people."

Designed by Leicester-based architects rg+p, The Wolsey Building benefits from state-of-the-art eco-technology in the form of a bio-mass boiler system which runs on wood pellets, providing a heating system which substantially reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The new building has achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3.

(CD)