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Duo planning to put Holbeck in the fast lane
Kevin Durkin has worked in Holbeck for 22 years, now he is playing a part in its regeneration, creating jobs and planning developments worth around £12m.
The 44-year-old and his business partner Neil Ramsey, 49, have secured planning permission to transform Midland Mills, one of the oldest buildings in Holbeck Urban Village (HUV), into offices and 15 apartments, with a striking 7,500sq ft glass atrium covering part of the building that dates back to the early 1800s.
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They also hope to build a staircase up to an elevated walkway across the top of the disused railway viaduct leading into Leeds Railway Station, connecting the area to the city centre.
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The duo have run Prestige Salvage Company breaker yard on Water Lane, Holbeck, for more than two decades, dealing with luxury cars such as Porshes, Bentleys and Ferraris at what is the largest yard of its kind in the UK.
But their long-term goal is to help transform the area which was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in Leeds.
They also have planning permission for a 9m, 17-storey triangular building, housing around 20,000sq ft of offices and 56 duplex apartments on the site of their breaker yard.
And they recently turned the Holbeck site of car rental firm 1car1, which went into administration in March, into Prestige MOT centre, which is expected to create around a dozen jobs.
Mr Durkin, who went to St Francis of Assisi RC Primary School in Holbeck, said: "We have been part of Holbeck Urban Village since it started, since the very first mention of it. I think we are one of the last private owners in HUV and it would be great if we can have a go at it rather than these large developers."
The plans have been drawn up by Leeds firm Architecture 2B.
Mr Durkin said Holbeck was up and coming and he was particularly impressed by the new scheme at nearby Granary Wharf, with its large public square and a bridge linking it to the city centre.
He said: "If Holbeck continues in that trend I think it's going to be one of the top places in Leeds to live and work."
There is no date set for work to start on the 1.9 hectare Midland Mills site as the recession has made speculative projects almost impossible, so the pair will have to wait for potential tenants to sign up before the project can proceed.
* As reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post last week a questionmark now hangs over the future of another key site in HUV after the owner went into liquidation.
The plot between Globe Road and Water Lane – owned by Holbeck Estates, was taken over by receivers acting on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland after it called in its loan following a revaluation of the land.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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