The Leeds Arena site has been handed over from Leeds City Council to the operators, SMG, to start the interior fit-out process.

The handover marks the end of the construction phase of the flagship Leeds Arena project. Led by the developer Leeds City Council, organisations including BAM, Arup, Populous, IPW and Davis Langdon – have helped to successfully complete the scheme on time and on budget.

Positioned in the heart of the city, the new £60m Leeds Arena will be a world-class music venue with a capacity of 13,500 people. Designed to maximise the quality of live music performances, its unique fan-shaped interior will optimise sight lines to focus every seat at centre stage and bring the public closer to the show. The multi-purpose facility has been designed so that the space can be easily modified to meet the changing requirements of a diverse event schedule, which could also include theatre and sports.

Now that the main construction works have finished and handover has taken place, SMG will manage the task of equipping Leeds Arena with bars, restaurants, staff and ticketing offices and star facilities - preparing the arena to welcome visitors in July 2013.

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Leeds City Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield said: "We want Leeds to be the best city in the UK and delivering this hugely-imaginative and highly-ambitious project on time and on budget in an incredibly-challenging economy demonstrates without doubt that we mean business.

"Our arena project is a superb example of the pivotal role a local authority can play in enabling a city’s transformation. It is bringing jobs, investment and visitors to our city and I cannot speak highly enough of the dedication, flair and sheer hard work that have been the hallmark of the Leeds Arena scheme, from inception right through to completion.

"Thanks to this commitment and professionalism from the council, its officers, construction contractor BAM, SMG Europe and our partners across the city and beyond Leeds will have the world-class venue it deserves. I would like to wish SMG the very best of luck as they set to work in getting it on the map."

The project started over a decade ago, in 2002, when Leeds City Council commissioned a feasibility study for building an arena in the Leeds area.

SMG were selected by the council to be the operator in early 2008 and Leeds City Council decided to take on the project to develop it itself in 2008 after private sector proposals were found to be not good value for money. With handover now completed, the council will be the landlord to SMG, and SMG will be responsible for the management and operation of the building.

In 2009, Arup was initially appointed as planning agent and technical advisor and then supported BAM Construction during the delivery phase of the arena from 2010 until present.

(CD/H)