First look - New £350 million Leeds city centre development Globe Point

Globe Point will be the first flat iron building to be built in the city since the design was conceived in 1875.

The Flatiron Building in New York is famed worldwide for its unique pointed design and frequently hailed as the first of its kind. However, the Bridge House in Leeds was constructed 27 years prior to the one in Manhattan.

The new development will feature seven floors and will incorporate office space with ground floor break out space, retail and leisure.

To date it is the only announced speculative new build office completing in Leeds city centre in 2021 with work due to begin on Monday, March 30.

Nick Lee, development director of CEG, said: “We have taken a different approach to the design of our first development at Temple, with occupiers front of mind. We are harnessing everything we have learnt about what our customers need for their business to thrive and will deliver it in a contemporary, flexible and unique way.”

John Phillips, BAM’s regional director for the North East, said: “BAM is the ideal fit for CEG’s ingenious vision for Leeds. Being not only an historic company here, but also highly modern in our methods and collaborative in our approach, really matches the qualities of the building and its wider context.

“We have built many of the most recognisable buildings in the city, but you are only as good as the next one you build; and as ever, it is the quality of your relationships that drives the quality of your work. There is genuine excitement at BAM about being a part of this tremendous and far-sighted development that really connects to the soul of the city.”

Phase one of the development is due to be completed by spring/summer 2021.

As well as offering corporate and headquarter space, CEG will also deliver its studio concept, offering all-inclusive flexible, fully furnished and comms ready workspace with kitchens, break-out and meeting areas for small and medium sized businesses.

Paul Fox, director of property agency Fox Lloyd Jones, said: “There is an acute supply gap of new and refurbished Grade A office buildings in Leeds. We are also seeing rising demand, particularly following Channel 4’s announcement that the city would be its new headquarters.

“Of the Grade A stock currently available, which typically accounts for 60% of total take up, headquarter-style properties under 50,000 sq ft are limited to just a handful of options. This undersupply, combined with Temple’s unrivalled location, just minutes’ walk from Leeds City Station and the commitment to build speculatively, is very exciting, and we are engaging with pre-let interest.”

CEG also has outline planning permission for further development of up to 1.1million sq ft of offices, shops, cafés, restaurants, bars, hotel and up to 750 new homes. It is hoped this, along with innovative outdoor plazas and green spaces will create a thriving, vibrant and welcoming space to enjoy for those who will live, work and visit.

The developments will be at the heart of Temple, a new district within the city centre which forms a key part of the South Bank Regeneration Area of Leeds, adjacent to Leeds City Station.

It includes the 8.69 acre sites around Water Lane and Globe Road which CEG secured planning permission for last year, as well as the historic Grade I listed Temple Works, which was acquired in early 2018.

Temple will be a new neighbourhood, forging its own identity and character, attracting the city’s pioneers and creatives once again. It puts Marshall’s Temple Mill at its heart, picking up on the spirit of change and innovation that characterised the area in its industrial heyday.

Stirling prize winning architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is working with CEG to masterplan Temple. Inspiring buildings, innovative outdoor spaces and improved connectivity between Holbeck, to Temple Works and then, via the Grade II listed bridge whose retention CEG has secured, over Hol Beck into this thriving development, will transform this major new city centre district.