Helmsley Group revises Coney Street Riverside plans

Helmsley Group has made changes to parts of its Coney Street Riverside masterplan in York, including increasing the amount of public realm, improving accessibility and enhancing building designs.Revised plans have been submitted following discussions with City of York Council and consultation with key stakeholders across the city, including feedback from the public.Helmsley’s masterplan includes 250,000 sq ft of mixed-use retail, leisure, commercial and residential space, a riverside walkway and the establishment of significant green and accessible public realm, both on the waterfront itself and also through the creation of new access routes between Coney Street and the River Ouse.The changes include redesigned public realm throughout the scheme, including significant increases in the amount of public space on the riverfront; increased active retail frontage across the scheme; a reduction in some of the proposed buildings’ shapes and sizes, as well as moving some of the buildings further away from the river edge to improve the overall quality of the scheme; and improved accessibility across the development.Max Reeves, development director at Helmsley Group, said: “Having worked closely with key stakeholders in York over the past few months, we have been heartened by the positive response we have had to our plans for Coney Street Riverside.”These include the public benefits of bringing underutilised upper floors of retail units back into use, a long-held ambition in York, whilst also creating world class public realm fit for this prime location on York’s riverfront.”We have consulted extensively across the city with heritage bodies, Council planners, York residents, accessibility groups and beyond. We’d encourage everyone to look at our proposals, which are publicly available on the City of York Council planning portal and our own dedicated Coney Street Riverside website, to discover more about the positive transformation we are looking to provide on both the riverfront and Coney Street itself.”The project team for the scheme includes Helmsley Group, brown + company, O’Neill Associates, Corstorphine and Wright, Montagu Evans, Aspect4, Gillespies, Troup Bywaters & Anders, Billinghurst George & Partners, Jane Simpson Access, Knight Frank, DS Emotion and Aberfield Communications.