Platform_ names 1.3m sq ft neighbourhood in Leeds South Bank

Sweetfields will comprise more than 1,350 BTR homes and 160,000 sq ft of grade A office space, set around a public square.

Located on Sweet Street West, the neighbourhood will be Platform_’s 10th development in the UK and its first mixed-use.

Designed by Leeds-based DLG Architects, the scheme will have a mixture of studio, one-, two, and three-bedroom BTR apartments, with phase one of residential development already underway and due to complete at the start of 2027.

Amenities will include a gym, residents’ lounges, co-working space, a private dining suite, and outdoor space and roof terraces incorporating exercise areas, children’s play areas, and pet-friendly facilities.

Alongside the initial 451 apartments will be two office buildings, offering 90,000 sq ft and 45,000 sq ft respectively, geared towards occupiers seeking space in excess of 5,000 sq ft.

Knight Frank will be the agent for the commercial spaces on the scheme, with other members of the project team including structural engineers Meinhardt, Leeds-based consultants CGP-MEP, landscape architects LDA Design, quantity surveyors KS4, consultants Bureau Veritas CDM, and fire engineer consultants Fire Dynamics.

Jean-Marc Vandevivere, chief executive at PLATFORM_ commented: “Sweetfields is an area that is steeped in local history, and we’re delighted to pick up its story and create a new chapter by bringing homes, jobs, and businesses back to a site that has been vacant since 2008.

“Our investment in acquiring the land, securing planning, designing and now building out the site reflects our commitment to creating a vibrant new neighbourhood to support delivery of Leeds City Council’s economic, investment, regeneration and housing goals.

“The Sweetfields name is the first step in bringing the site to life and attracting a wide range of residents as well as retail, leisure and workspace occupiers, creating a neighbourhood that people from across Leeds and beyond can enjoy the benefits of.”

Eamon Fox, Partner and Head of Development at the Leeds office of Knight Frank commented: “This is a very timely and welcome mixed-use development in an historic area of Leeds, which is enjoying significant regeneration.

“The continued inward investment in the city from major occupiers has put pressure on the housing and workspace supply and there’s no doubt that Sweetfields will ease this problem.

“One of the most important trends in Leeds right now is the rapid growth of higher educational establishments, which are producing talented graduates who want to live and work in the city.

“There have been concerns that the current housing stock cannot cope with this demand.

“Professor Catherine O’Connor of Leeds Trinity University, which has just opened a new campus in the heart of the city, is right when she says that the retention of highly qualified graduates in Leeds is vital to the local economy.

“In this context, Sweetfields is exactly the right development, at the right time, in the right place.”