Arena Puts Leeds on World Stage

With the doors now open at Trinity Quarter, all eyes are now on therecently named First Direct Arena, which is set to open this summer as part of a hugely exciting year for Leeds.

The Arena is already a major landmark for the city and as you head towards it from any direction its multi-coloured skin of aluminium panels complete with hexagonal windows certainly make it stand out from the crowd.

When you see it at night, it’s a different story again.  Using a combination of illuminated tracery, throbbing back-lit mesh and spotlights shining through the windows, the building can change colour or pattern depending on the arena’s show or mood!

Such a mesmerising building is already driving other regeneration and investment projects in the area with the likes of Hilton Hotels recently announcing plans to build a £32m five star hotel nearby.

The Arena also benefits from an innovative design style that uses a staggered fan shape, rather than the conventional horse shoe seating arrangement that you find in most venues.  This means it offers perfect views from every one of its 12,500 seats and nobody will be more than 68 metres from the stage, which compares to about 100 metres in lots of other arenas.  This ‘super-theatre’ layout will be the blue-print for new arena around the world.

With these credentials it’s no surprise that American Billboard magazine says it’s the most exciting venue to open in the world this year and it will definitely be part of the reason why Bruce Springsteen made a ‘special request’ to try out the arena in a one-off show as part of his Wrecking Ball world tour.  This kind of publicity is great for Leeds and is raising the city’s profile internationally.

With the likes of Elton John and a whole host of other world class acts set to follow in The Bos’s footsteps, the hotels, restaurants and bars of Leeds could soon be rolling out the red carpets, which raises another question – where will ‘The Boss’ go for dinner and where will he stay?  With the new Hilton not opening until 2015, will he opt for the city’s bright lights or go for a haven or tranquillity in the Yorkshire countryside?

Whatever he decides at least Leeds will finally have a venue it has lacked since 1989 when the much loved Queen’s Hall was demolished.

The Future Of The Property Market In Leeds

For over two decades, I have witnessed dramatic change in Leeds City Centre; at the launch of one of the city centre’s earliest residential schemes, at 32 The Calls, the then Lady Mayor famously said to me, as she cut the ribbon, ‘I was born in Hunslet and it’s beyond me why anyone would want to live by this smelly canal’. ‘Thank you so much for coming along this evening I said politely.’

Vision is a powerful and essential force in new markets and in spite of a massive downturn in the residential market, perhaps felt most sharply in the city centre market, where buy to let purchasers have tended to lead the way, there are now around 14,000 people living in ‘downtown’ Leeds; so successful is the market that around 99% of all apartments are currently occupied. City Living 1: Mayor 0.

The huge surge in residential demand which followed the tragic events of 2001 has been a major force in driving forward new supply and with little chance of a further boom on this scale, and a likely absence of speculators, it will fall much more to the craft and guile of a new breed of developers and place makers to inspire the next generation of city living.

Gone will be the huge, single phase schemes of faux terracotta and curtain walling, poorly conceived and ill-maintained ‘public spaces’ and hollow promises to distant investors. Along instead will come smaller schemes, well-conceived, designed from the inside in to provide homes which are truly liveable. Separate kitchens with utility areas, ample storage, slightly more generous floor to ceiling heights and plenty of glazing (more expensive than brick, we know, but infinitely more attractive).

Attention will turn to genuine sustainability- see what CITU are doing at Little Kelham in Sheffield and would love to do in Leeds- and accountants will be much more tuned in the downside than they were through the last boom, largely because there was no downside, right up until the very top of the boom curve.

Lenders will remain cautious and will be most generous in their lending on either those schemes which have best stood the test of time, or new schemes which clearly differentiate themselves from the market through design, specification, location and amenity- this is the trend which prevails in more mature city centres and this is what we expect to see in Leeds.

New buildings will be few and far between in the next few years but taking a medium term view and factoring in the lag in new house building in the context of an ageing population and increasing single person households, it seems inevitable that medium density urban housing will be a significant factor. In Leeds, this could mean high quality housing schemes in locations such as Wellington Place and on the edges of Clarence Dock, with perhaps more affordable housing springing up in places like the Kirkstall Road corridor and East Bank. In order to ensure that the city centre is able to attract and hold young occupies beyond the flush of early city living and perhaps into parenthood, then we will need to ensure that education and child care is well provided for and that there are plenty of green and /or open spaces where families can play and relax. City centre green space has been a talking point for years and there is a general acceptance that we need to do more to create either green or well landscaped areas in the heart of the city to afford both workers and residents a proper ‘breather’.

The blueprint for a successful and balanced city centre where living and working co-exist happily and healthily is much discussed and Leeds has a real opportunity to develop and grow in its own unique way- it is largely low rise, extensively pedestrianised, eminently walkable and rich in heritage-on its outer edges, swathes of khaki land sit unused and ready for men and women of vision to deliver for the next generation.

Trinity Leeds Leads The Way

There’s no doubt that 2013 will be a big year for Leeds with several major new developments, including Leeds Arena and Trinity Leeds, preparing to open their doors – after a tour of the latter earlier this month, I can see that it’s definitely a game-changer for the city’s retail offering.

To describe the one million square foot development, which international developer Land Securities has spent a cool £350m on, as a ‘shopping centre’ is almost an insult.  The development’s website describes it as ‘a retail soul that will continue to evolve and inspire, day and night, at the very heart of this world-leading city destination’ and even this doesn’t quite do it justice!

When it opens on 21st March it will be the biggest shopping centre to open in Western Europe in 2013 and will offer around 100 sensational shops, stores, restaurants and cafes in stunning surroundings under a landmark curving glass roof.  It will be a true destination where people will meet, shop, drink, eat and socialise.  It will attract new visitors to Leeds and will increase the amount of time and money that people spend when they visit us.

Since work started in 2010 transforming the tired buildings and replacing the 60s rabbit warren of alleys that linked Briggate to Albion Street and Commercial Street, the development has been making headlines which have been gaining momentum in recent months with a string of leading names signing up to take space in the development.

Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, M&S, Primark, Cult, Hollister, Next, River Island, H&M, Topshop, Topman and  Mamas & Papas are just a few of the retailers that will call Trinity Leeds home.  Plus, although it hasn’t been officially confirmed, there’s a rumour out there that Apple is opening a flagship store in the development.

There’ll also be a host of new restaurants opening with the top of Trinity’s three floors dedicated to food and drink.  These include international restaurant group D&D London opening two venues in the development.  They will be the group’s first UK restaurants outside of London and will sit Leeds alongside the company’s establishments in cities such as Paris, New York, Copenhagen and Tokyo. The first, Crafthouse will showcase the very best British produce and will offer great views across the city.  The other, named Angelica, will have an outside terrace, ‘penthouse’ restaurant and stunning cocktail bar – both will be major attractions for Leeds as a whole.

The Trinity Kitchen will be the first of its kind- an interactive collection of innovative outlets and street food, which will see street food vendors’ vehicles winched in to the Kitchen which will be a welcome departure from the formulaic ‘food court’ which features in most centres.

Finally Boutique cinema chain, Everyman will open its first venue outside of London, providing Trinity Leeds with a film offering that sits independent cinema alongside screenings of the latest blockbuster movies.

Although a lot of press coverage about the high street might focus on the doom and gloom, with what seems like a continuous stream of well-known companies heading into difficulty, such as Comet, Jessops and HMV, Trinity Leeds is telling a very different story.  

Triplex Apartments Released To Let In Leeds City Centre

Three stunning triplex penthouse apartments at Leeds’ only built to rent scheme have been released for let and are immediately attracting interest from potential tenants looking for a completely unique city centre home.

The penthouses located at Crispin Lofts have two or three bedrooms and are amongst the final homes available in the scheme which has seen nearly 80 apartments let within months of them hitting the market.

Rushbond Group has transformed the landmark building which sat in a partly developed state, in the city’s Northern Quarter on the corner of North Street and New York Road, for more than a decade.  The three penthouses offer stunning accommodation spread across three floors.

Each apartment offers well over a thousand square feet of prime living space with spectacular views of the city. Each penthouse is different to its neighbour and has been furnished to an exceptional standard to create some of the most distinctive apartments in the North of England.

The grade 2 listed building was originally built in 1915 and was home to Henry Heaton’s Clothing Company and then HW Poole & Sons Boot and Shoe Manufacturers. Both were distinguished Leeds based businesses and major employers in the city.

The majority of the apartments were let as soon as they were released with young professionals desperate to rent somewhere so central and with real character and personality.

Prices for the penthouse apartments at Crispin Lofts, which also includes a resident’s gym and on-site concierge, start at £1400 pcm.  To arrange your viewing at Crispin Lofts, contact Morgans on 0113 398 0098.

Morgans sponsors Headingley Beer Festival

MORGANS BACKS BEER FESTIVAL

THE FIRST ever real ale festival in Headingley has received the backing of property firm Morgans, which has just invested over £500,000 in a new office in the area.

Headingley Beer Festival, which will take place from 25th – 27th May at the New Headingley Club (previously the British Legion Club), is expecting to attract over 2,500 people and will feature beer, bands, food and family entertainment.

Managing Director Jonathan Morgan says: “Its Headingley’s first ever real ale festival and online ticket sales have already proved that there is a real appetite for this sort of event. Having operated in North Leeds for 13 years and recently opened our new 1,200 sq ft office opposite Headingley’s Arndale Centre we were keen to show our support for the festival.”

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Innovative office design is rewarded with award nomination

Morgans has been shortlisted for the RICS PRO Yorkshire Award in the commercial category for its newly opened North Leeds office at 75 Otley Road in Headingley.

The 1,200 square foot office, which specialises in residential property lettings, was designed by Brewster Bye Architects and opened in December.  The property was formerly a derelict detached house that has been completely refurbished and extended to create the purpose-built office which features modern cedar and glass extensions on both sides, an open plan layout, an open roof truss structure and a cut back first floor.

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Leeds city centre pipeline runs dry

Residential sales activity in Leeds city centre is set to grind to a halt if plans for new schemes are not put in place soon – there are  are no new build apartment schemes currently being built and none are planned for next year either.

Having been crowned the empty flats capital of the North in the past, Leeds has gone from one extreme to the other with the only scheme on the horizon being Crispin Lofts, which is being built specifically to let.

In the 2010 The City Living Research Report published by the University of Leeds warned that construction over the next five years would stall with only five schemes, totalling around 600-700 flats, having a chance of being delivered within the next five years.

Schemes within the main city core are nearly all fully occupied which means there isn’t much choice for owner occupiers or investors at the moment. We have gone from a situation of chronic over-supply to a real lack of apartments in these central areas in less than five years.

With rental demand soaring and increasing numbers of potential owner occupiers looking for stand-out apartments in central locations we are also beginning to see some positive price movements.

Leeds benefits from a large financial centre, popular universities and expanding hospitals, and now there is growing demand from young professionals wanting to buy in the city centre we hope that development will start to regain some momentum soon to meet that demand.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Shop till you drop!

Trinity Quarter have announced that their scheme is now 66% let, a year ahead of completion. This is an amazing achievement in a difficult market and has much to do with the strength of demand in and around Leeds for quality shopping and leisure. What’s most exciting is the number of brands in Trinity which will be new to Leeds- an Everyman Cinema where you can watch a movie from a sofa with-at seat service, 2 new Conran restaurants, Hollister, Apple, Republic and Giraffe, to name a few. You can view the web-cam at www.trinityleeds.com

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We’re winning new business and we’re recruiting

We’re winning new business every day and we’re looking for new blood. We are looking for people with a strong work record, which doesn’t have to be in property, bags of energy to burn, self-motivation and plenty of self belief.

We are market leaders in city centre and North Leeds rentals and we’re on the move so if you want to be part of something very exciting and you love property, email your CV to s.kirk@cityliving.co.uk and tell us what you’ve got to offer.

First glimpse of Crispin Lofts

Just got back from our first visit to peek at the brand new loft style apartments at Crispin House.
Met the project team and the developer and saw a fantastic near finished split level one bed. The spec is great- flooring, exposed brickwork, very high ceilings, sleek, low profile kitchens, loads of storage space, big windows- just what we need in a market starved of new buildings.
Residents in the building will enjoy optional secure basement parking, a concierge and the use of a residents gym!
First completions in April 12- exclusive to Morgans city centre rentals – call 0113 3980098 to join the priority list.