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Next Significant Stage Reached For £52m Office At Thorpe Park Leeds

Steel signing at Thorpe Park Leeds Steelwork erection has begun as construction progresses apace to deliver the next state of the art offices at Thorpe Park Leeds. The £52 million, 133,118 sq ft building, that is pre-let to leading credit management company, Lowell in a ground-breaking deal for the region.

Scarborough Group International (SGI) expects to complete the impressive headquarters by September 2022, bringing around 1500 people to work at Thorpe Park Leeds. The Park is already home to over 100 businesses employing around 5,500 people and continues to attract growth companies as the North’s largest out of town business destination.

GMI Construction is the main contractor for the building which extends over seven floors with two levels of underground podium parking and amenity below. Around 1,750 tonnes of hot rolled steel, 5,000 cubic meters of concrete and over 62,000 metres of wiring are being used for the project.

Approximately 56,000 cubic meters of bulk earth has been excavated and redistributed across the site, saving the need for 7,000 lorry loads to leave the site, reducing the need for 14,000 vehicle movements. This not only helps to increase efficiency but ultimately helps to reduce the overall environmental and carbon impact of the project. The public realm is perhaps one of the most important considerations within the design of the building, introducing new green spaces to support local wildlife habitat.

Designed by award-winning architects, Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher, the building represents a new benchmark for future development at Thorpe Park Leeds. It is being constructed in line with the very latest human health and wellbeing standards with an environmental performance target rating of BREEAM ‘Excellent whilst also achieving an EPC A rating. Its location and adjacent landscaped courtyard will create an anchor point for the next development plots that will be largely pedestrianised, providing easy access to The Springs retail and leisure park, Central Park and proposed 113 acre green park beyond.

The pre-let to Lowell was announced earlier this year and represents the largest single out of town office deal ever recorded in West Yorkshire and the biggest property transaction in the Northern Powerhouse region over the last eighteen months.

Adam Varley, Head of Commercial at SGI, said: “We are delighted to see the progress with the new building as GMI continues to deliver on schedule despite the various challenges the pandemic has created, which recently includes sourcing materials. With considerable groundworks now completed we can now look forward to seeing the structure materialise at a rapid pace creating a new landmark as you approach Thorpe Park Leeds from the M1. We are working in close collaboration with Lowell to make sure we deliver a culturally fitting and inspiring new workplace that is also adaptable for the business’s future needs.

“Alongside the office building we are about to embark on an associated multi storey car park to support the new phases of offices development at Thorpe Park Leeds. This incorporates electric car charging and bicycle storage provisions to encourage more sustainable travel.”

Lee Powell, Divisional Managing Director of GMI said: “We are delighted to have reached this major milestone. Thanks to great collaboration and the efforts of the team and our supply chain partners, we have reached this milestone on schedule and the project is on track for its completion date.”

Thorpe Park Leeds is an already well-established business location, strategically located with its own dedicated access at Junction 46 of the M1. More than 900,000 sq ft of office space is already built and The Springs retail and leisure park sits at the core of the mixed-use business community with a line-up of major high street brands including Next, M&S, ODEON Luxe, Pure Gym, Boots, H&M and TK Maxx along with a growing range of smaller, independent, niche retail and leisure businesses.

Further development plans include the delivery of a 113-acre public park with sports and wellbeing facilities for the community of the Leeds City Region and beyond. The phase two development at Thorpe Park Leeds was enabled following a unique investment deal with Legal & General Capital in 2015. Since then, a transformational 1.35 million sq ft mixed-use expansion has progressed bringing exceptional new business opportunities to the Leeds City Region. It has also enabled the delivery of the first section of the ‘East Leeds Orbital Route’ (ELOR), a key piece of transport infrastructure connecting north and east Leeds to Junction 46 of the M1. This road also unlocks land for the future construction of over 7,000 new homes on the East Leeds area.

The Award-winning development has been chosen for the new railway station ‘East Leeds Parkway’ and associated Park and Ride, connecting directly to Leeds City Centre in less than eight minutes. This forms part of a £270 million infrastructure investment into Leeds by the Department of Transport.