Plans for a £40m canal-side scheme incorporating Leeds’ landmark Giotto Tower have been submitted for a strategic site in the Holbeck Urban Village regeneration area.
Site owner, the Holmes family, is seeking permission for 352 flats, 50,000 sq ft (4,652 sq m) of offices, 14,400 sq ft (1,337 sq m) of A3 space and 5,000 sq ft (454.7 sq m) of workshop space on the three-acre (1.2ha) Tower Works site on Globe Road.
Predominantly new-build, the scheme involves the conversion and refurbishment of a number of listed buildings currently occupied by small businesses.
Drawn up by architect Carey Jones, the scheme also proposes a piazza with restaurants overlooking the canal as well as the Giotto Tower and the two smaller Verona towers located at the former textile pin factory site.
The Giotto Tower, an elaborate Italianate structure, has dominated the area since 1899.
The site is seen as a key link between the Holbeck Urban Village, home to Leeds’ nascent internet quarter, and the city centre.
Leeds council is keen to see the site redeveloped and has welcomed the scheme’s provisions for public access to the area. The proposal would create routes to the existing canal bridge, and to the railway station and the nearby Granary Wharf market.
Lyndsay Burns, director of the Leeds office of NAI Gooch Webster, development consultant and letting agent for the scheme, said: “I think this is one of the best schemes south of the river.
“It has several unique selling features, which are the towers, the canal frontage, its close proximity to the station and the city, and its public open spaces.
“I think there will be substantial interest in both the residential and commercial elements of the scheme.”
EGi News 25/09/02
