The city centre has shifted drastically with the now sprawling Trinity Leeds shopping centre being dominant, alongside the new ultra-modern Victoria Gate complex, while the redevelopment of the Majestic by Channel 4 has transformed the City Square area.
New additions to the skyline have also shot up, with 2005's sprawling skyscraper Bridgewater Place being toppled from the top spot by 2020's Atlus House, a 37-storey building that is now the tallest building in Yorkshire.
And plans haven't stopped there. A major project from Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority plans to completely alter the area around Leeds Station, while work has begun on an ambitious project to build two new hospitals in a £650m scheme at Leeds General Infirmary and to build a £80m School of Arts building for Leeds Beckett University.
However, it is just not commercial buildings that are springing up on the skyline, there are also plans to redevelop and regenerate disused sites and older, historic buildings to create entirely new neighbourhoods and homes for people to live.
We have already seen new developments across the city, but here are 11 new ones set to change Leeds as we know it.
7. Whitehall Road flats
Leeds planning chiefs have heard early plans to build two large towers in Whitehall Road. Pre-application plans for two blocks of 26 and 31 storeys, which would be built on the former Doncaster Monk Bridge Works, were heard at a council meeting in August. Photo: Simon Hulme
8. Whitehall Road flats
The development, which would include around 498 flats, also includes space for green space and cycle parking. Of the flats, around 60 are set to be studios, with 175 one-bed, 225 two-bed and 38 three-bed properties. According to a Leeds City Council report into the plans, the two towers would be linked via a “double storey height podium”, and would include rooftop amenity space for residents. Members of the panel agreed that they supported the principle of building on the site. Photo: CGI
9. Tower Works
Those who regularly get the train in to Leeds Station will be familiar with the historic Tower Works chimney. The chimney belongs to a former factory located in Globe Road and known for its distinctive and Italian-inspired three towers, which are all listed. It was founded by T.R Harding in 1864 and was used to make steel pins to be used in the textile industry. Tower Works closed as a working factory in 1981 and was unused until the land was purchased in 2005. Photo: Tony Johnson
10. Tower Works
Now part of the Holbeck Urban Village regeneration project, Tower Works is undergoing redevelopment to become a residential village. There will be two new residential buildings with one, two and three-bedroom built to rent apartments and duplexes. Three new public squares are planned around each of the site’s iconic chimneys. Photo: CGI
11. Aire Park
Nestled to the south of Leeds city centre is what is set to be the new Aire Park development. Work has started to redevelop the former Tetley Brewery site into a new district of its own. Developers Vastint UK say Aire Park will be a bustling and open development in the centre of the South Bank with an urban park, boasting more than 500 trees, at its heart. Leeds City Council officers called it the first major 21st-century park, adding it would be a “catalyst for regeneration” in the surrounding area. Plans are to build 850 flats, a five-storey office building and a 400-bed hotel.
12. Aire Park
In November 2020, planning permission was granted by the council for 28,000m2 of commercial space at Aire Park, in Leeds' South Bank. The new offices will be built speculatively, with ground floor flexible space available for shops, gyms, restaurants and cafes. As part of the plans, an area around half the size of Millennium Square to the northwest of the site would be known as the Tetley Triangle – a hard-surfaced events space for “concerts, markets, outdoor cinema and outdoor cafe”. “The green”, a grassed area to the west of the site with an amphitheatre; the sensory “theatre gardens”; and “central park”, made up of grassed areas, trees, play areas and a water feature, would make up the rest of the site. Photo: CGI