New life for former Yorkshire Post site

30th September 2016

Residential Real Estate lawyers at Walker Morris have advised the landowner on the sale of the former Yorkshire Post Gateway site on Wellington Street in Leeds City Centre.

The landowner, Stirling Investments, has exchanged contracts to deliver a large 18 storey residential building offering 242 apartments aimed at the Private Rented Residential Sector (‘PRS’), along with some ancillary commercial spaces at ground floor

Grainger Plc have forward committed to purchase the block subject to receipt of detailed planning consent for the building which has been designed on a bespoke basis to meet Grainger’s exacting needs.

Grainger Plc are the UK’s largest listed residential landlord and a build to rent specialist, and this scheme will be Grainger’s first development in Leeds. The building will occupy a prime south facing Riverside plot on the 5-acre site, which also has outline planning consent for a further 3 blocks earmarked for Headquarters Office Buildings, the whole served by extensive public realm and commercial retail/leisure spaces.

Following detailed pre application dialogue over recent months a reserved matters planning application is to be submitted in October with delivery of the scheme expected to be complete in mid-2019.

Rachel Cowper, Real Estate partner who led the team at Walker Morris commented:

“This is an exciting development for the City.  The former Yorkshire Post site is an iconic and a renowned location in the centre of Leeds. It comes at a time when we are seeing a number of regeneration schemes come to fruition in the City which demonstrates a level of confidence within the City and we’re excited to play a part in that.”

Paul Fox of Fox Lloyd Jones acting as Development Managers on the scheme confirmed his delight at being able to bring Grainger into Leeds for its first major PRS scheme in the city.

“There has been much talk about the drive for build to rent schemes in Leeds and other key provincial cities to respond to changing market dynamics and it is exciting that this will be one of the first real schemes to come out of the ground in Leeds.

“With such a high calibre operator on board we are very positive over the detailed planning dialogue ahead and excited to be kick starting a high quality regeneration of an iconic Leeds site.”

Helen Gordon, Chief Executive of Grainger, said:

“We are pleased to announce this sizeable PRS build-to-rent acquisition that will deliver 242 new, purpose-built rental homes in Leeds city centre. Leeds is a vibrant city which holds all the key characteristics of our PRS investment strategy, including a large professional workforce and significant economic growth potential.”