The world’s spotlight shone on Leicester last month for the week-long programme of events to coincide with the re-interment of King Richard III. The event culminated in a service to mark the reburial of the last Plantagenet at Leicester Cathedral.
This once-in-a-lifetime occasion has aroused unprecedented interest in the UK’s 10th-largest city. Despite having the largest unitary authority in the East Midlands, Leicester has punched well below its weight in recent years in terms of development, being overshadowed by Nottingham and Derby.
So ears definitely prick up when a global firm such as Prologis says it is going to look further north, beyond its Northamptonshire heartland, to a possible development up the M1 in Leicestershire because of land constraints in the traditional Golden Triangle locations. With Leicestershire being the hot new industrial and logistics location du jour, developers are defrosting sites that had been on ice. Take note, councils: you will need to make the most of this potential inward investment spike by being in tune with the emerging trend and making extra land supply provision.
Large office deals are thin on the ground in Leicester, so (prepare to prick up those ears once again) to net two office requirements of more than 30,000 sq ft each is pretty remarkable in a city where the size of an average office deal is just 3,112 sq ft, according to EGi research. Step forward IBM and Hastings Insurance. The deals are yet to be confirmed, but highlight renewed interest in the city.
For the first time in a long time, speculative office development is taking place in Leicester, albeit out-of-town, at Marlborough Property’s 34,000 sq ft Marlborough Court scheme at Raynsway Properties’ Watermead development. Fellow Leicester-based developer Charles Street Buildings Group is hoping it can follow suit and build offices on its site in the Waterside area of the city centre. Located directly opposite Hammerson’s perennially popular Highcross retail and leisure centre, CSB’s eight-acre site could become a 600,000 sq ft mixed-use extension to the city centre down to the River Soar, with 110,000 sq ft in its first phase.
It makes sense to build on the success of Highcross by rerouting the A50 and pedestrianising the area across the street from CSB’s site, where new offices, a boutique hotel, retail and A3 space are proposed. It also takes progressive thinking and prompt action by a council that has already proved itself open to responding more diligently to commercial needs. Can Leicester now pull together and maintain the momentum? If so, the results could be truly historic.
