The long-stalled prime development site at the heart of a fierce legal battle over the building of the Leeds Arena is to be revived by a new developer.
City One, once the crown jewel of Jan Fletcher’s Montpellier Estates, has been bought out of administration by Caddick Developments.
The 9.5-acre site has consent for a £500m scheme including 1m sq ft of offices, a 25-storey residential tower, a 230-bedroom hotel and a 100,000 sq ft casino.
The long-stalled prime development site at the heart of a fierce legal battle over the building of the Leeds Arena is to be revived by a new developer.
City One, once the crown jewel of Jan Fletcher’s Montpellier Estates, has been bought out of administration by Caddick Developments.
The 9.5-acre site has consent for a £500m scheme including 1m sq ft of offices, a 25-storey residential tower, a 230-bedroom hotel and a 100,000 sq ft casino.
Caddick is expected to seek a revised consent which replaces the leisure element of the scheme with private rented sector flats, designed to tap into a perceived housing shortage in the city.
The London- and Wetherby-based developer saw off rivals with a £10m bid, the highest amount paid for a Leeds development site, according to EGi research.
It brings to an end a six-year saga over City One, which has been the subject of multiple development proposals.
The site, on Sweet Street, was one of two locations shortlisted by Leeds city council in 2008 for the £60m Leeds Arena.
When the council scrapped the procurement process in favour of building the 13,500-seat venue itself at Clay Pit Lane, Montpellier initiated a £43.5m high court claim, which was successfully defended by the council.
Receivers were called in by creditor Royal Bank of Scotland in 2013 to take charge of Montpellier’s property holdings after Leeds city council issued a winding-up petition.
Other Montpellier assets in receivership include small properties in Leeds, Huddersfield, Wigan and Durham, as well as the firm’s HQ at Montpellier House in Harrogate, which Allsop is in the process of selling.
Caddick is also behind the 5.6-acre regeneration of Leeds’ Quarry Hill area, and part of a joint venture to build the first residential phase of Hermes and Co-operative Group’s NOMA scheme in Manchester.
Knight Frank advised on the sale of City One.
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chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
