Regeneration around Leeds station could be about to take an important step forward.
The 133-acre site known as the South Bank is seen as the natural growth area of the city centre and, should politics not get in the way, come 2033 there will be a brand new HS2 station.
But 2033 is a long way off and there is plenty that can and, some say, should be done in the meantime to further the city’s economic development.
A joint venture between Leeds city council, HS2 Ltd and the government-owned London and Continental Railways is on the cards to help bring forward the regeneration of 80 acres of the site.
If the discussions prove successful the jv would be granted powers for joint land acquisition to secure funding for development. LCR owns some of the land and presumably land assembly would be the next step.
LCR has a good track record in station-related development, having worked with Argent on King’s Cross Central, which has become a benchmark scheme.
Could a private sector developer be sought to bring forward this scheme? It would be the obvious move.
Another key issue for the South Bank will be where the HS2 station is located. A review is scheduled for the autumn with a decision early in 2016 about the time scale.
The common opinion is that the new HS2 station should be linked with the existing mainline station. This is an option being pursued by the council.
Tom Riordan, chief executive, Leeds city council, says: “Our view is that we want a single integrated station. Whether that is a King’s Cross/St Pancras-style facility or whatever, we need a single station feel.”
The decision on the location of the HS2 is crucial to moving regeneration forward. Martin Farrington, director of development for Leeds city council says: “Looking ahead the council has commissioned Arup and Gehl Architects to bring forward a masterplan for the HS2 station and the South Bank area once the final location is announced.”
In the meantime the market is pushing ahead with projects in the South Bank. The council’s vision is for a northern European feel and a mixture of uses – business, leisure, retail, education and a mixture of housing tenure.
Leeds council’s Riordan cites Tower Works as an example of what the council wants to achieve more widely. Carillion was announced as development partner for the £80m project at this year’s MIPIM. The plan includes 92,000 sq ft of offices, 20,000 sq ft of leisure and 147 homes. It falls within the South Bank regeneration area.
The decision by two colleges to locate to the area and the building of a free school is also encouraging.
“The South Bank is happening anyway, what happens with HS2 and without are two very different things in terms of scale and what investments come,” says Stephen Miles, director of UK development at DTZ.
The next few months will be important for the city. If the joint venture can be finalised and a decision on the HS2 station agreed, then it will green-light
a significant next phase for Leeds’ South Bank.
Thinking local
Another infrastructure project that the property industry is keen to see come forward is the full revamp of Leeds station. Some work has already been done to open up access to the South, but some agents think this gateway to the city is “horrendous” and “uninspiring”.
Improvements have been promised for many years and there is a fear that HS2 and HS3 might dominate the agenda.
David Aspland, partner at Carter Jonas, says: “Is the hype of HS2’s arrival more valuable than the benefits of it arriving in 30 years? It could be an excuse not to deliver things in the here and now.”
One of those here-and-now projects is an integrated public transport system in Leeds itself. A trolleybus has long been mooted but has yet to come to fruition.
“We’ve done a lot of comparison studies with European cities and it is pretty frightening, the absence of integrated public transport around Leeds. Manchester has got it. Sheffield has got it, Leeds started collecting money but nothing happened,” says Jeff Pearey, lead director North for JLL.
The fear is that with just one train station serving the city and roads getting congested it could be detrimental.
“I worry that it could limit growth. Big-employment businesses that might look at Leeds are going to look at how their staff move across the city, and we are still so reliant on people getting in by car,” says Pearey.
The proposed trolleybus route runs north-south through the city with the option to add more lines later. Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds city council, says the proposal has just been to public inquiry and a decision is expected before the summer, adding he is “confident it is going to proceed”.
The power of three
HS2 is grabbing all the headlines but there has long been a call for connections between the Northern cities to be improved. Some say that it is more important than HS2.
Jonathan Shires, director of office agency at CBRE, says: “Looking at connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester is essential to turning the region into a Northern powerhouse with each city having its USP. Something along those lines would work better than HS2.”
JLL’s lead director North, Jeff Pearey, agrees: “HS3 is more important to us than HS2 because that’s the connectivity east-west, if the Northern power house is going to get off the ground. Shaving 15-20 minutes off the journey time to London is not that important.”
