Office plans could pave way for civil service

A new eight-storey office building at Wellington Place in Leeds is proposed for land at 7 and 8 Wellington Place, which fronts on to Whitehall Road.

The application to Leeds City Council states that the Government Property Unit is considering a number of sites on which to locate a new government office hub in Leeds in 2019 and one of the shortlisted developments is the plot at Wellington Place.

MEPC and a government spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the Wellington Place proposal was linked to the HMRC’s plans to create a regional centre in the city but the development as a whole is understood to be on the shortlist.

The building, which will be part of phase two of the Wellington Place development, will include 377,215 sq ft of office space, a further 22,125 sq ft for ancillary uses such as shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, and 182 basement car parking spaces.

If MEPC is unsuccessful in securing the government requirement, the central link block will be removed to create two smaller office buildings, which will be more attractive to the wider office occupier market.

James Dipple, chief executive of MEPC, said “Leeds is a very attractive place for companies to locate to.”