Joint venture partners Asset Capital and Prescient Capital have been given planning permission to develop central Leeds Wellington Plaza to offer 77,000 sq ft of prime, best in class workspace.
The partnership intends to fund and deliver the £50 million enhancement of the 1980s HQ building speculatively with a start on site by early 2024.
Designed by Leeds based DLA Architecture, the approved plans will increase floor space availability from 21,000 sq ft to 77,000 sq ft with Grade A specification floorplates up to 10,000 sq ft. A total redesign of the buildings’ façade is influenced by the local conservation area and ESG credential targets including BREEAM Outstanding, minimum NABERS 5 Star, Fitwell 3 Star and Wired Score Platinum Certification.
The internal space is designed to support the post-pandemic hybrid way of working with total flexibility for occupiers fit out. Communal spaces will include a large roof top terrace, sky lounge, and business lounge linked into reception for occupiers and their guests.
Asset Capital CEO Daniel Newett said: “We have plans to not only bring the site in line with its neighbouring Grade A premises but surpass this with a specification that the city has not yet seen, redefining the term ‘super prime’.
“We are very much repurposing an existing building, in line with our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, to provide an inspirational, collaborative, sustainable and futureproof working environment that is worthy of a leading European city for business.”
Fox Lloyd Jones, strategic property advisors have been appointed joint office leasing agents for the scheme alongside Cushman & Wakefield and Knight Frank. Society Studios is appointed as branding and marketing consultants for the scheme.
Adam Cockroft at Cushman & Wakefield said: “Wellington Plaza will offer much needed, new, super prime office accommodation with a level of specification and ESG credentials that Leeds city centre has not yet seen. Several pre-let discussions are already underway, confirming that the desirability for such high-quality workspace in a prime city centre location is still high.”
Nick Salkeld, Director at Fox Lloyd Jones, said: “Wellington Plaza’s speculative development is a huge boost for the critically undersupplied Leeds office market. There remains an underlying ‘flight to quality’ with Grade A demand accounting for almost 80% of take up which has seen headline rents continue to rise. Wellington Plaza is the first of a new generation of offices coming forward in the pipeline which will set the benchmark for boutique ESG led workspace in the prime core and is already attracting pre-let interest.”
