Prescient Capital Scraps Student Towers for Offices on Leeds Yorkshire Post Site

Prescient Capital is attempting to reboot the stalled redevelopment of the former Yorkshire Post site in Leeds by replacing consented student towers with two major office buildings.

The latest plan switches the northern plots from around 1,700 student rooms to 15 and 17-storey office blocks providing nearly 49,000 sq m of workspace. The rethink follows further market testing and viability work aimed at unlocking the next phase of the prominent city centre site, which has remained largely vacant since the former newspaper headquarters was demolished in 2014.

Planning permission for redevelopment of the former Yorkshire Post site was first granted in 2015. The first phase later delivered The Headline residential building, a stepped block of flats rising from 13 to 18 floors.

A further consent secured in 2023 allowed around 1,700 student beds and 348 homes in buildings reaching up to 42 storeys, but the scheme failed to progress. The previous consented scheme was valued at £400M.

The latest move significantly cuts the height of the northern blocks while switching their use from student accommodation to offices in an attempt to get the long-running regeneration scheme moving again.

DLA Architecture is designing the new scheme, with Waterman providing M&E and BREEAM services and Roscoe acting as structural and civil engineer.

The buildings are targeting BREEAM Outstanding. The scheme also includes new public realm and new routes through the site, alongside a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain.

Prescient will work with Leeds City Council over how the surviving Yorkshire Post clock tower can be reimagined within the development.

The latest application covers only the northern section of the wider site. A separate developer is expected to bring forward fresh proposals for the southern riverside plots in due course.