Plans in for £80m space park in Leicester

Jon Robinson Jon Robinson Senior Digital Staff WriterPlans in for £80m space park in Leicester3 Oct 2018 Midlands PropertyPlans in for £80m space park in LeicesterOfficial plans for a £80m space park in Leicester which could create 2,500 jobs and boost the regional economy by £715m have been published.The University of Leicester is working with Leicester City Council, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership and the National Space Centre on the bid for the 9.3-acre site.According to the documents, which were published for the first time on Tuesday, Leicester Space Park’s first phase will include a part four, part five-storey building to provide 46,801 sq ft of research and business space.Expected to be complete by summer 2020 if planning approval is granted, it will be used by the Leicester Institute for Space and Earth Observation as well as businesses and will consolidate the university’s Earth Observation capability in one location.It is anticipated that 150 businesses will be active participants within the first five years.Phase two, earmarked for completion by 2022, will join onto the northern face of phase one to create a single building.The third phase would a standalone facility known as ‘LoCAS’ – Low Cost Access to Space – and would be ready by 2032.In total, the last two phases will consist of up to 215,278 sq ft of space.The park will carry out research in space and earth observation, provide training for the space scientists of the future and contribute to growth in the national space economy.The development will be located on the site of the former John Ellis School on Leicester’s Waterside next to the historic Abbey Pumping Station and the National Space Centre The school closed in 1999 and was demolished in 2006.The initial works will be funded through a £13m grant from the Local Growth Fund via the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Park and up to £13m from the university.A total of 335 new car parking spaces will also be created.