Hammerson, which owns and manages Victoria Leeds, has today announced that Leeds City Council has approved plans for a new 205-bed hotel adjacent to its iconic retail and leisure destination, Victoria Gate. The consent represents another significant milestone in Hammerson’s City Quarters concept, and its plan to develop a vibrant mixed-use area to complement Leeds cultural quarter, driving additional footfall and spend to the city.
City Quarters will create vibrant mixed-use neighbourhoods surrounding Hammerson’s existing flagship destinations. The concept will see Hammerson transform many of its city venues beyond pure retail into successful neighbourhoods providing homes, workspace, hotel rooms and public realm.
The Victoria Hotel site currently occupies a unique position within Leeds city centre, providing a link between the retail quarter to the west and the emerging cultural quarter to the east; home to the Leeds Playhouse, BBC studios, the Northern Ballet and Leeds City College. The new hotel will enhance both the daytime and evening economies, meeting the need for a high quality hotel, restaurant and bar in this part of the city centre whilst providing an anchor for those looking to enjoy the city’s vibrant retail, leisure and growing cultural offer.
Hammerson is currently in discussions with an international hotel brand looking to bring a new boutique hotel to Leeds for visitors and professional travellers.
This latest announcement follows confirmation that the group’s mixed-use masterplan for Birmingham city centre, Martineau Galleries, also received consent this week.The City Quarters project Martineau Galleries will transform a currently underutilised site in the centre of Birmingham into a thriving new neighbourhood, providing homes, workspace, hotel rooms and a new town square. Consent for a new residential development adjacent to Dundrum in Dublin was also given the green light in December.
Robin Dobson, UK Director of Development and Project Management at Hammerson said, “Delivering on our City Quarters concept is a key priority for Hammerson and this is our third planning consent in the last twelve months. Not only does this mark an important step in our wider plans to create a thriving new cultural quarter in Leeds City Centre, it also demonstrates progress in our wider strategy to support our existing assets by moving beyond pure retail.”