Milestone reached at £70m Leeds Urban Village
Domis Construction and Cole Waterhouse are making rapid progress on the site in the south of the city, where 1,000 homes and 18,000 sq ft of retail and commercial space are under development, with construction advancing so quickly that a planned groundbreaking ceremony became an ‘out-of-the-ground’ event instead.
Located on Hunslet Lane on brownfield land to the east of Marsh Lane, the site is being delivered with support from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The wider project team includes Eldride & Fortwell Capital, DLG Architects, Curtins, Russell Bolton Consulting, Matic Building Services, Wright Landscapes, Casana Interiors, NOVO, and Lichfieldsand.
Leeds Urban Village will consist of five tower blocks providing 1,012 homes with ground-floor commercial and resident amenity space, including cafés, retail, and co-working space.
The project is Domis Construction’s first project in Leeds and its largest to date in terms of total number of homes. It is also Domis’ first equity joint venture with Cole Waterhouse.
The current phase focuses on Blocks 3, 4, and 5, which will deliver 478 BTR homes and 113 affordable homes. Currently, around 265 linear metres of culvert diversion has been completed, piling is fully complete to Blocks 3 and 4, with 597 piles installed, and sub-structure works to Block 3 are now complete.
Upper floors are beginning to progress, while slipform cores continue to rise, with Core 1 reaching Level 11 and Core 2 reaching Level 13.
Leeds Urban Village arrives at a time of continued growth for the city: Leeds has a £36bn economy and almost 6,000 homes currently under construction.
Once complete, Leeds Urban Village is expected to create circa 600 jobs during construction and up to 313 additional jobs once built, supporting long-term employment, investment and regeneration across the city.
Kingsley Thornton, managing director of the Domis Group, said: “We want to express how excited we are to be here in Leeds, putting a foothold in the city and demonstrating what Domis and our supply chain partners are capable of.
“That is already reflected in the progress behind us. We may not be breaking ground in the traditional sense, but we build quickly and efficiently, as shown by the two cores already rising on site.
“We’re desperate to show Leeds what we’re all about. It is a city we’re excited to be part of, and the opportunity here is endless. With so many families and young professionals coming into the city, we’re proud to play a role in that growth.
“Block 3 is the first step in a project that will deliver more than 1,000 homes for Leeds, and we’re proud to be well underway with that task.”
Simon Gallanders, managing director of Cole Waterhouse, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with Domis as our delivery partner in the delivery of LUV, with special thanks also going to the Combined Authority and Leeds City Council, which have been advocates in supporting the overall vision for the project.
“We are now well out of the ground and progressing at pace. Having reached this first major milestone on the journey to delivering one of the city’s most significant new residential neighbourhoods, we are eager to maintain this momentum.
“With significant progress being made in bringing forward the wider masterplan we are very optimistic at what the future holds for bringing this community to life”
