Premier Inn agrees pre-let lease for Leeds Kirkgate Market hotel
Works on the scheme are expected to start next year and will be designed to ‘complement other hugely-positive’ regeneration initiatives
Whitbread has revealed that Premier Inn has been named as the proposed operator for a new hotel development at Leeds Kirkgate Market, as a pre-let lease has already been agreed.
The news comes as Leeds City Council submitted a planning application in August for the scheme on the George Street side of the Grade I-listed market building.
The group has had confirmation that the application will be considered by the council’s city plans panel at a meeting on Thursday 30 November.
If the application is approved, works on the scheme are expected to start next year and will be designed to “complement other hugely-positive” regeneration initiatives in the area around the market.
The George Street hotel is expected to create approximately 50 new full and part-time jobs locally once operational, with around 80 jobs being supported during construction.
The site earmarked for the scheme is owned by the council and is currently occupied by a number of vacant low-rise shop units. The hotel will fill the top five floors of the new six-storey building and will have 143 rooms, as well as a bar and restaurant.
Meanwhile, the ground floor will be reserved for commercial units and a “state-of-the-art”, council-run gym.
Cllr Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, culture and education, said: “The new development would provide a much-improved connection between the market and Victoria Gate, while also acting as an attractive linking point in the wider flow of the city centre from Vicar Lane towards the Eastgate roundabout and Quarry Hill.
“We are pleased to be working on this project with Premier Inn, which has a commitment to delivering quality and good value that mirrors our own approach as a council.”
Paul Smith, property acquisitions manager for Whitbread, added: “From independent research, we know that Premier Inn customers spend £140 per night per bedroom outside of our hotels when they stay in city centre locations like George Street in Leeds.
“This money excludes what our guests spend on their accommodation, with food and drink, entertainment and non-food shopping being the largest categories of spending. Importantly, most of this money is spent in the local area around our hotels as our guests go out and about to get a taste for where they are staying.”
