Developer Hammerson has resubmitted an outline planning application to Leeds City Council for a 1 million sq ft scheme that was mothballed during the recession.
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The development, Eastgate Quarters, originally slated for completion in 2012, has been revised over the past two years to produce a new proposal that “better suits retailer requirements and improves connectivity with neighbouring parts of the city,” said a Hammerson spokeswoman.
The £600m scheme, anchored by John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, is now targeted to open at the earliest by 2015.
Revised plans include moving John Lewis more towards Leeds’ Victoria Quarter, a new arcade leading to M&S, direct access from the A64 into the M&S car park, a larger public square and pedestrianised streets within the scheme.
Eastgate Quarters, designed by architects ACME, will have about 130 shops designed to pull in a mix of high-end, high street, international and independent retailers, plus a catering offer. It will cover a 6.9 hectare brownfield site, most of which has been empty for the past four decades, and will deliver about 4,000 jobs.
Hammerson project director Andrew Hilston said: “We have had strong feedback on the revised proposal. Retailers are impressed with the new design.”
John Lewis property director Jeremy Collins said: “Leeds remains an important strategic location in our department store expansion programme. Submission of thenew planning application is a significant milestone.”
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