Student tower plan emerges for Leeds centre

Plans to demolish a 1990s-era office building in the centre of Leeds to make way for a 17-storey student accommodation block have come to light.London and Scottish Student Housing has submitted pre-application plans to Leeds City Council which proposes the demolition of Symons House on Belgrave Street in Leeds to make way for a17-storey building.Symons House is a detached four-storey office building with modern brick façade, constructed in the mid 1990s and comprising 22,400 sq ft of office space.The proposed development would create 325 student studio flats separated into three sizes of studio.Bronze apartments would be 229 sq ft (21.3 sq m), silver apartments would cover 282 sq ft (26.2 sq m) and gold studios would be 475 sq ft (44.2 sq m). Within the development there would be 286 bronze studios; 32 silver studios and 7 gold studios.Surrounding buildings include the nine storey Fairfax House office building and the grade I-listed St John’s Church and gardens by the parking courtyard, Santander building and Merrion Street to the south.London and Scottish Student Housing is a subsidiary of London and Scottish Property which has 14 properties in Yorkshire and many more across the UK.The new development would be the company’s first student accommodation scheme in the city having recently opened a scheme in Sheffield as part of a growing portfolio across the UK.