Work is to begin on a £350 million mixed-use development in Leeds next month after the council signed off on a planning agreement.

The Section 106 legal planning agreement was signed, allowing for construction to progress on the six acre site in the heart of the South Bank.

Work will involve demolishing the former warehouse on Water Lane and preparing the site for development. A programme of archaeological excavation will uncover whatever remains on the site.

The development is expected to kick-start the regeneration of an area of the City Centre.   

CEG has already invested £300,000 into securing the Grade II listed bridge which formed a historic route for the Marshall empire and will once again form a physical link over Hol Beck, connecting Water Lane and Marshall Street to the new development at Globe Road.

The Marshall family also led the construction of the nearby Grade I listed Temple Works buildings, which the CEG group acquired early this year. 

The company has appointed a dedicated professional and technical team, including specialist engineers, heritage architects, surveyors and health and safety advisers. An intensive programme of assessment and stabilisation works is underway. 

Jon Kenny, Strategic Development Director of CEG, said: "Our proposals for South Bank bring together the birthplace of the industrial revolution in Leeds; the home of Marshall's first two Mills, as well as the Marshalls' last, and greatest creation, Temple Works. This is an exceptional opportunity to breathe life back into these, creating locally and nationally important iconic landmark buildings and innovative public spaces. This is not just about building on a historic legacy; it is about creating a new one."

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CEG has now started marketing its South Bank development, which now has detailed planning permission for two office developments with ground floor retail and leisure totalling up to 26,100 sq m and outline planning permission for mixed-use development of up to 103,900 sq m of offices, retail, leisure, hotel, health, education and community uses, parking and up to 750 new homes, along with new public spaces and landscaping.

David Hodgson, head of strategic development north for CEG, explained: "Many years of hard work are being realised as we launch to market an exceptional opportunity for the highest quality office developments just minutes from Leeds City Station. This, along with the retail, leisure, hotel, residential and community uses, benefitting from innovative outdoor spaces and the waterfront, will bring a strategic development of a critical mass and international standard, putting South Bank Leeds on the map as a place to live, work and enjoy."

The proposals will:

• Deliver a new location for the south west of the city centre with up to 750 new homes, workplaces, shops, cafés and restaurants;

• Provide the wider community with attractive new places to walk, rest and enjoy;

• Create thousands of new job opportunities and provide on-site training, education, upskilling and apprenticeships during construction to benefit local people;

• Design inspiring buildings ranging from five to 40-storeys which will put Leeds on the map as a key European destination, creating an exciting gateway arrival point to the city from the south west;

• Retain the two-storey printworks building façade as a feature within the design;

• Improve connectivity – making it easier and more attractive to walk or cycle from Holbeck to the waterfront, railway station and the city centre;

• Assess opportunities to enhance existing community facilities, including the potential for new education uses;

• Create a safe, attractive environment for employees, residents and visitors to enjoy green spaces and public plazas that are appealing and well-lit;

• Revitalise the approach to movement around the area through innovative travel planning backed up by a data-rich traffic microsimulation model of the city centre highway network using the internationally acclaimed Aimsun traffic modelling software.

The wider South Bank regeneration area covers 253 hectares south of the River Aire in Leeds. It is set to double the size of Leeds City Centre providing more than 35,000 jobs and 8,000 homes and is one of the largest City Centre regeneration initiatives in Europe. 

(CM)