Member Article

Plans unveiled for £20 million York residential development

Plans have been unveiled for a major restoration project that will see one of York’s most recognisable buildings transformed back into the City’s finest residential address.

St Leonard’s Place, a Grade II* listed crescent, acquired by property firm Rushbond Group in 2006 was previously occupied by City of York Council, which relocated to new offices last year.

Rushbond now plans to restore the building and a planning application to convert the building into five townhouses and 29 apartments will be submitted shortly.

Mark Finch, director of Real Estate at Rushbond, says: “When it was built in the 1830s, St Leonard’s Place was the pinnacle of fine living in York - and it can be so again.

“Given the scale and stature of St Leonard’s Place, it is our ambition to bring these buildings back into life as soon as possible and our plans will see us create a stunning high-quality residential development that can exceed anything else in the region and indeed the North of England.

“St Leonard’s Place was planned back in the early 19th century as a development that would lead the way in domestic architecture, bringing to York the elegance and style of properties only seen in parts of London at the time.

“It was an ambitious plan that provided the City with a great architectural legacy. We plan to respect those aims and create the most stunning example of City Centre living in York.”

“While we initially planned to transform the building into a hotel, as York goes from strength to strength as a visitor destination, the complexities around this particular building made it difficult to deliver a viable proposal - despite concerted efforts all round over a number of years.

“Rushbond has an extremely strong track-record in producing exceptional residential schemes and our proposals will see the whole crescent sympathetically restored to create 40 truly magnificent homes that will elevate York into a whole new league in terms of its residential offering.

“A key feature of the development will be the range of properties that will be available to appeal to a national and international audience as well as local and regional buyers, enhancing York’s standing along with other great cities such as London and Edinburgh.”

Cllr Alexander, leader of City of York Council said: “This is great news. The development of St Leonard’s will mean an iconic building in York being put back into use in the way it was originally intended and after some time.

“I’m pleased also that the developers are keen to meet affordable housing commitments. It joins a growing list of investments and important developments in the city being progressed or completed in recent months after long periods of stagnation, such as the Bonding Warehouse, Terry’s and White Swan.”

Matthew Jones, Director of leading international residential agency Savills, who are advising Rushbond on the plans, commented: “There is a great opportunity to add to the growing status of York by delivering a truly high-quality conversion scheme that will appeal to a very wide audience.

“St Leonard’s Place will provide a very unique and prestigious address and will be talked about in the same way as the Royal Crescent in Bath and Grosvenor Square are in London’s Belgravia.

“The potential to promote the City to this wider audience is really significant for the region as a whole.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .