Victoria Gate

This article is about the retail development in Leeds. For the city gate in Valletta, Malta, see Victoria Gate (Valletta).
Victoria Gate
Location Leeds city centre, Leeds, England
Opening date Autumn 2016
Developer Hammerson
Owner Hammerson
No. of stores and services 120
No. of anchor tenants 2
Total retail floor area 1,100,000 sq ft (102,193 m2)
No. of floors 8
Parking 2,700 spaces
Website victoriagate.co.uk

Victoria Gate, formerly known as Eastgate Quarters and the Harewood and Eastgate Quarters, is a £165 million retail development under construction in Leeds, England, which is planned to open in late 2016.[1] It is a project development by Hammerson.

The first Eastgate masterplan was developed by Terry Farrell's and Outline Planning Permission was obtained in 2007. A number of different architects were appointed in 2007 for the several buildings within the Masterplan, including the Jerde Partnership and Benoy for the Templar Arcade, Thomas Heatherwick for Harewood Quarter, ACME for the John Lewis Store and McAslan for the buildings along Eastgate. The scheme was put on hold in late 2008.[2] Hammerson announced in 2010 that work had commenced on a revised masterplan and in March 2011, a new Outline Planning application for Eastgate Quarters was submitted to Leeds City Council.[3] Eastgate Quarters was first announced in 2004 and followed several cancelled schemes for the derelict site to the east of Leeds city centre dating from the 1970s. On 13 July 2011, it was announced that planning permission had been given for the Hammerson scheme to proceed.[4]

The proposed development is sited on land that is used for car parking, and it was in the past home to a very small China Town which has caused some controversy due to the required relocation of the occupiers of the present buildings. There has also been some concern over the possible loss of old buildings which stand on the planned site of the development.[5]

Department Store John Lewis is the Eastgate Quarters' anchor tenant and is planned to occupy a 265,000 square feet (24,600 m2) store.

Originally when the Eastgate Quarters was in early planning the second department store was to be occupied by Selfridges[6] but due to a change in ownership in 2003 with the new owner Galen Weston halting all expansion Selfridges had cancelled their plans to open in Leeds.

However, on 14 January 2008 Marks and Spencer was announced as the second anchor store for the Eastgate Quarters. It will open a 196,300 square feet (18,240 m2) unit including menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, a full home range, cafe and a food hall. It will complement and not replace the existing Marks and Spencer store on Briggate.[7]

Eastgate Quarters will have around eight levels, There will be 1,100,000 square feet (102,193 m2) of floor space in the centre and there will be 2,700 car parking spaces.


Area

The Bookends being prepared for demolition

Victoria Gate will be located between the civic quarter, the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the existing retail quarter.

Victoria Gate is flanked by the inner ring road, a major arterial route surrounding Leeds city centre. It is adjacent to the established Victoria Quarter shopping arcade and the Leeds City bus station.

The location is also on the main access route from Leeds to the motorway network. The M1/A1 provides north/south access to the Midlands, London, Newcastle and Edinburgh. The M62 motorway provides east/west access to Hull, Manchester and Liverpool.

The development will consist of three areas:

Harewood Quarter

Location of the John Lewis Store and of upmarket fashion retailers (in a similar emphasis to the existing Victoria Quarter).

Eastgate

Eastgate creates a new restaurant and cafe quarter centred on Templar square, a major new public space incorporating the listed Templar House.

Templar Arcade

Templar Arcade is the largest section in the development. As the largest of the three districts, Templar Arcade consists of 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of retail stores and over 100 high street stores.

References

  1. ↑ Victoria Gate (website), accessed 27 May 2014
  2. ↑ "£800m Eastgate Quarter work postponed". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds, West Yorkshire: Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "New Eastgate Quarter Planning application submitted". Estates Gazette.
  4. ↑ "Eastgate Planning Permission Granted".
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Gate, Leeds.

Coordinates: 53°47′53″N 1°32′17″W / 53.79806°N 1.53806°W / 53.79806; -1.53806

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