UK: Developer Watkin Jones has outlined plans to redevelop Headrow House in Leeds city centre in to a coliving project.
The proposed 232 studio would be targeted at graduates and young professionals. Communal areas will include laundry facilities, kitchens, common rooms with televisions and a landscaped rooftop terrace.
Headrow House was originally an office building but is now empty.
A planning application is yet to be submitted, but the developer offered city councillors a preview of their ideas at a meeting last week, along with a number of designs.
Alex Glenister, development director at Watkin Jones, said: “This is an attractive and prominent building on The Headrow. In recent years office space has migrated to the west and south of Leeds city centre and the building is now empty. We believe the building works well for co-living. We want to create a high-quality living environment which will encourage working people into the city, aiding spending and the economy.”
Feedback from councillors has been mixed. Councillor Robert Finnigan said: “It looks interesting. It’s a proposal for us to perhaps explore in more detail when it comes back. There will always be issues with what you’re going to do with your office buildings post-pandemic. Unless you come up with something imaginative, you’re going to end up with boarded up buildings because they’ll never be used as offices again.”
But councillor Kayleigh Brooks, said: “I’m genuinely really upset that developers think they can pull the wool over people’s eyes and sell this as a choice you’d make. It’s another way to make more money out of young people who are going to be forever priced out of buying their own properties. If you’re finding it really difficult to find somewhere affordable to live in Leeds then you may be forced to live somewhere like this. There’s a housing crisis and we can’t allow developers to push the enveloper this much.”
