Victoria Gate

This article is about the retail development in Leeds. For the city gate in Valletta, Malta, see Victoria Gate (Valletta).
Victoria Gate
Victoria Gate logo

Interior on opening day
Location Leeds city centre, Leeds, England
Opening date 20 October 2016
Developer Hammerson
Owner Hammerson
No. of stores and services 35
No. of anchor tenants 1
Total retail floor area 1,100,000 sq ft (102,193 m2)
No. of floors 8
Parking 800 spaces
Website victoriagate.co.uk

Victoria Gate, formerly known as Eastgate Quarters and the Harewood and Eastgate Quarters, is a £165 million retail development in Leeds, England, which opened on 20 October 2016.[1] It is a project development by Hammerson.

History

Eastgate Quarters was first announced in 2004 and followed several cancelled schemes for the derelict site to the east of Leeds city centre dating from the 1970s. The 2004 Eastgate masterplan was developed by Terry Farrell's and Outline Planning Permission was obtained in 2007. A number of different architects were appointed in 2007 for the several buildings within the Masterplan, including the Jerde Partnership and Benoy for the Templar Arcade, Thomas Heatherwick for Harewood Quarter, ACME for the John Lewis Store and McAslan for the buildings along Eastgate. The scheme was put on hold in late 2008.[2] Hammerson announced in 2010 that work had commenced on a revised masterplan and in March 2011, a new Outline Planning application for Eastgate Quarters developed by ACME was submitted to Leeds City Council.[3] On 13 July 2011, it was announced that planning permission had been given for the Hammerson scheme to proceed.[4]

The proposed development is sited on land that is used for car parking, and it was in the past home to a very small China Town which has caused some controversy due to the required relocation of the occupiers of the present buildings. There has also been some concern over the possible loss of old buildings which stand on the planned site of the development.[5]

Department Store John Lewis is the Eastgate Quarters' anchor tenant and is planned to occupy a 265,000 square feet (24,600 m2) store.

Originally when the Eastgate Quarters was in early planning the second department store was to be occupied by Selfridges[6] but due to a change in ownership in 2003 with the new owner Galen Weston halting all expansion Selfridges had cancelled their plans to open in Leeds.

Area

The 'U' shaped nature of the development can be seen here.

Victoria Gate is located between the civic quarter, the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the existing retail quarter.

Victoria Gate is flanked by the inner ring road, a major arterial route surrounding Leeds city centre. It is adjacent to the established Victoria Quarter shopping arcade and the Leeds City bus station. The location is also on the main access route from Leeds to the motorway network.

The development consists of three areas:

Harewood Quarter

Location of the John Lewis Store and of upmarket fashion retailers (in a similar emphasis to the existing Victoria Quarter).

Bookends gone, same view now John Lewis & car park.

Eastgate

Eastgate creates a new restaurant and cafe quarter centred on Templar square, a major new public space incorporating the listed Templar House.

Templar Arcade

Templar Arcade is the largest section in the development. As the largest of the three districts, Templar Arcade consists of 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of retail stores and over 100 high street stores.

References

  1. ↑ "Victoria Gate launches in Leeds". Victoria Leeds. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "£800m Eastgate Quarter work postponed". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds, West Yorkshire: Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "New Eastgate Quarter Planning application submitted". Estates Gazette.
  4. ↑ "Green light for £600m Eastgate scheme in Leeds". Builder & Engineer. Excel Publishing. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Eastgate and Harewood Quarter Outline Plan Gets the Go Ahead". Leeds Civic Trust. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
  6. ↑ "Proposed Harewood/Eastgate Quarter Development". Leeds Civic Trust. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Gate, Leeds.

Coordinates: 53°47′53″N 1°32′17″W / 53.79806°N 1.53806°W / 53.79806; -1.53806

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