Prominent Leeds residential scheme set for green light

Two applications for a major housing scheme at a prominent site in Leeds have been recommended for approval. The plans could lead to the creation of hundreds of residential units in a series of blocks measuring up to 14 storeys on a former indstrial site.Outline plans were initially approved in March 2016 for the City Reach scheme on the former Yorkshire Chemicals site on Kirkstall Road.Leeds City Council will now consider a reserved matters application from developer Inhabit for the redevelopment of the former first bus depot site as part of the first phase of the project.The City Reach 1 proposal covers the construction of five blocks providing a total of 526 residential units and 309 student unitsBlock A would be 11 and 12 storeys in height and have all 309 student units, 93 per cent of which would be in cluster flats and the remaining would be studios.Blocks B and E would be seven and nine storeys tall and provide 128 private rented sector (PRS) and 182 private for sale (PFS) units respectively.Block C would extend to five and eight storeys and have 111 PRS units and block D would have 105 PFS units in a building extending to five and nine storeys.A total of 210 car parking spaces would be provided within the site at street level. The applicants had originally proposed 500 car spaces in a basement but this is no longer part of the scheme.The application will go before the council’s City Plans Panel on 31 May and is recommended for approval in a planning officer’s report prepared for the meeting.The report said the reserved matters proposals had been “developed to a high standard” and would “result in an environment with a real sense of place”.A hybrid application from Inhabit for City Reach 2 will also be considered at the meeting, with a further four blocks of residential accommodation, ranging from six to 14 storeys, proposed.Three of the buildings would comprise about 400 PRS residential units, with the fourth building, providing about 130 PFS properties.Outline permission is sought for the new blocks together with full-planning consent for 83 car parking spaces on this part of the site.This application is also recommended for approval at the council meeting, subject to conditions.The planning officer’s report added that together the two City Reach phases would “act as a catalyst for further development in this part of the city and result in a greater focus of activity and investment in the area, to the benefit of local residents, occupiers and the city in general”.Initial plans for both schemes were presented to the council at a pre-application meeting in December 2017.