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A new office construction project in Leeds has reached an important landmark, after the first tower crane was put in place.
The City Square House scheme will see a former car park next to Leeds station being transformed into a 140,000 sq ft office building. The design and build contractors McAleer and Rushe started work on the site in My last year, clearing the land and digging the foundations, but it is from now on that the emergence of the steel superstructure of the building will be visible.
Director at developers MRP Angus Montieth said: “City Square House office will quickly take shape during 2022 and it will slot into place as the final piece of the City Square regeneration plan”.
Scaffolders in Leeds will doubtless be involved at later stages in the project, but the wider importance of the scheme is that it is not a one-off, but can be viewed as a sign of confidence in the prospects for Leeds city centre as an office market as the UK emerges from the pandemic and working practices change Again.
Eamon Fox at property consultancy Knight Frank, which has been working with MRP, said: “It is tremendous to see this flagship building slowly taking shape, providing a very genuine cause to be optimistic about the commercial property sector in Yorkshire.”
He added: “City Square House is the iconic new office development that the Leeds market has been waiting for,” noting that it is in an ideal position with its location by the station and will offer more space to “address the pressing need for quality Grade A office space in the city centre”.
Indeed, Mr Fox observed, this development is taking place in proximity to new developments such as the Majestic, 1 City Square, 34 Boar Lane and Platform, four major office developments that indicate the sector is performing well in Leeds and that, by extension, the city as a whole is flourishing.
All that will provide plenty of optimism for the construction sector as it faces the future. The issue of working patterns and whether city centre offices would see long-term decline in a ‘new normal’ world of hybrid and remote working has been a significant issue.
A second concern has been that of public transport. Until late last year, Leeds was lined up to be part of the HS2 network, with all the construction contracts that this involved and future maintenance once the system was in place.
The bitter pill of the cancellation of the Leeds leg did come with the sweetener of a government pledge to provide the city with a long-awaited tram system, which will certainly be important for commuting into the city centre.
While the City Square House scheme will be conveniently adjacent to the station, other city centre locations are not. This presents a problem not experienced by other northern cities; even Bradford has two central stations, while Liverpool has four, Manchester has four plus eight central tram stops and Sheffield, while also having just one central station, also has its trams.
However, it is not just about trams. Significant progress has been made on upgrading Leeds Bus Station, with Wilmott Dixon now expected to complete a major refurbishment in April.
It may be this sort of parallel investment in both city centre office space and transport infrastructure for commuters that will help Leeds keep on moving forward.
