Premier Inn Leeds: Parent firm announces plans to transform office block in South Bank into 120-room hotel
Plans for a new Premier Inn are in place as the hotel’s parent company acquires a 42,000 sq ft office building in Leeds city centre.
Whitbread acquired the freehold for Verity House in the South Bank area of Leeds city centre with plans to redevelop the building into a 120-bedroom Premier Inn hotel.
The L-shaped detached building, which was built in 2000, is said to have “huge potential” as Whitbread plans for a retrofit and seeks planning permission for an extension.
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Jill Anderson, acquisitions manager for Whitbread, said: “Whitbread has a long and successful track record of converting office buildings into popular budget hotels.
“It is a proven route to expanding our presence in popular locations like Leeds city centre where development opportunities are limited and where we have a requirement to grow.
“Converting offices into hotels also provides obvious benefits to the environment by extending the life of existing buildings and reducing the embodied carbon of development.
“Verity House makes for a superb hotel location given its proximity to the station and all the amenities in Leeds city centre.
“It complements our existing network of eight Premier Inn’s across the city and as a freehold purchase it demonstrates Whitbread’s willingness to take on planning and development risk to secure exceptional locations for our guests.
“The location has huge potential and I’m looking forward to working with the city council’s planning team on repurposing the building.”
The acquisition of Verity House grows Whitbread’s secured development pipeline in Leeds city centre to two locations and more than 250 pipeline bedrooms.
It currently offers its customers a choice of eight trading locations across the city, including Leeds Bradford Airport.
To the east of the city centre, Premier Inn is the committed hotel occupier of the Kirkgate redevelopment being brought forward by Leeds City Council.
Planning permission for the development was granted in December 2023, with the Premier Inn hotel set to offer 143-bedrooms as well as a bar and restaurant for guests.