£150m development at Leicester railway station takes step forward
A £150m office and leisure development at Leicester railway station has taken a major step forward.
More than £9.2m of public money has been earmarked to move the Royal Mail sorting office out of Campbell Street, it has emerged.
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Royal Mail's sorting office in Campbell Street, Leicester
This would pave the way for the ambitious vision of having offices, shops, bars and restaurants, car parking and a new civic square in the area, which could attract as many as 2,400 jobs.
Under the scheme, the current entrance to the station could be converted into shops or restaurants, but the historic building would remain, while office blocks would aim to attract jobs into the city.
The Royal Mail is now considering the offer from Leicester regeneration leaders, who would then market the site to potential developers.
However, any further work at the site still depends on getting agreement from Network Rail, the owner of the station and the car park land, who will be negotiating with East Midlands Trains, the operator of services from the station.
Prospect Leicestershire, the organisation charged with bringing jobs and investment to the city and county, said it could be up to eight years before the development is completed.
Nick Carter, chairman of Prospect Leicestershire, said: "The future expansion of Leicester's business quarter is vital to provide space to attract high quality jobs into the city centre."
The cash, from East Midlands Development Agency, will go towards the costs of building the new mail depot, demolishing the existing one and preparing the area around the train station car park for development.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said its decision was expected within weeks.
He said: "Royal Mail is considering a proposal from Prospect Leicestershire to vacate the Campbell Street delivery office and move to another site within the city.
"The alternative site is still to be acquired by Prospect Leicestershire.
"Royal Mail is carefully considering this proposal and hopes to make a final decision with the next few weeks."
Martin Traynor, managing director of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said getting the Royal Mail to move would be a major step forward for the development.
He said that although new high-quality offices, such as those in the nearby Colton Square, had struggled to attract tenants during the recession, it was "imperative" that the area around the train station was ready for investment after the economy recovers.
He said: "If we're going to make the best use of this part of Leicester, the relocation of the Royal Mail site is critical.
"This is where the public sector is best placed to spend its resources – to ensure that sites are ready for development when private sector investment is available."
A spokesman for Network Rail said it was working with Prospect on the "ambitious" scheme.
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by Mark Collinson, Syston
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 1:54PM
“It's about time Leicester had a decent station. For a reasonably large city the current facilities in the station are bad.”
by Kevin, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 1:37PM
“I hope they sort out the pickup/dropoff parking area, it's always a nightmare there.
I wonder if there's any room left in WHSmiths for a sorting office! :)”
by ED, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:38PM
“Its about time royal mail moved to somewhere more suitable - trying to pick up parcels etc from their office is a nightmare! Seeing as it is public funds being used for this - then lets hope they become more public friendly.”
by Andrew, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:33PM
“I agree with Mike in Anstey.
The planner should try and include bus stops for buses, not only city buses but those coming in from outside of Leicester. Make some effort at intergrated traffic. After all more bus and rail passengers in the area would encourage shops and bars.”
by james, leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:28PM
“Anybody else a little tired of hearing about these buildings being converted into shops/offices/bars/restaurants and civic squares! It never happens, the plans are very pretty but we never see this happen. No doubt it will get refurbished and just stand empty again”
by Red, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:22PM
“@Tom, what's wrong with the Marriot? (apart from the fact that it's not in the middle of Leicester? Or indeed in Leicester at all...) - it's an excellent modern hotel (of the kind seen all over the USA incidentally).”
by Ed, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:18PM
“Oh, and as I've said time and time before. The Victorians and the Georgians did more demolition than anyone. If only they hadn't we could have had a wonderful medieval centre - perfect for tourists and heritage junkies everywhere, Maybe we could even have kept the old open sewers?”
by Ed, Leicester
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:14PM
“Maybe I'm misreading the article - but where does it say any "historic" building will be knocked down?
And Tom Watson may not like the Peepul Centre but I think it's fine looking modern building. I really don't understand why people always mention other countries buildings. Everywhere in the world (including the USA and Europe) old buildings are demolished and new ones a re built. The planning processes vary of course and it's impossible to make generalizations but most countries have made mistakes in kocking down or allowing buildings to fall into disrepair - it's just not the case that the UK (or Leicester in particular) does this kind of thing uniquely. Councils and goverments have very little power to stop a building just because it doesn't look very interesting. For those who can be bothered to look Leicester still has plenty of great old buildings and some fabulour new ones. Pointing out a few boring ones (and no-one is saying the student accomodation next to Southgates is anything but very dull indeed) is just pointless.”
by Mike, Anstey
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 12:08PM
“If there's room for a civic square, surely there's room for a small bus station there, so that Leicester can have something that at least resembles integrated transport?”
by Tom Watson, Earl Shilton
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 11:31AM
“Demolish more old buildings, and kill off more of our architectural heritage.
Just where is our sense of civc pride in what our predecessors created?
In both Europe and the US, there is a far greater tendency to reuse and convert buildings, rather than demolish.
I wouldn't mind but most modern building design is awful, and Leicester has plenty of examples - the Peepul Centre, Marriott Hotel, and the student flats next to the Southgates underpass.”