The mayor of Leicester has marked a decade of investment in the city’s £300 million Waterside regeneration scheme.
Over the past 10 years a derelict, forgotten corner of the city running along the Rover Soar and Grand Union Canal, has been transformed with 1,000 new homes, 97,000 sq ft of new office space and - Leicester City Council says - the creation of around 500 new jobs.
The site includes two new hotels, build-to-rent apartments, student flats, a new home for Leicester Riders Basketball team and even a new bowling alley.
City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the council effectively kick-started the transformation in 2013, when it stepped in to protect and redevelop the derelict 18th century Friars Mill building after it was badly damaged in a fire. That site is now managed offices and workspaces, run by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of the council.
He said: “Friars Mill was the catalyst for the transformative regeneration that we now see happening at Leicester’s Waterside.
“The area had suffered badly since the 1980s, with the closure of key industries leaving many sites neglected and underused. For decades, it had been an area with immense but unrealised potential.
“Following the blaze that gutted the Donisthorpe factory at Friars Mill in 2012, it quickly become clear that the council needed to intervene. We had to act to protect and preserve this important historic building but also to reverse the decline in the wider Waterside area.
“In 2013, we purchased the Friars Mill site with a view to restoring and redeveloping it, thereby sowing the seeds of a wider vision to transform Waterside into a vibrant, attractive area to live and work in.
“I am very proud of what has been achieved in the ten years since. A long-neglected area of derelict industrial land has been brought back into use. We’re creating a thriving neighbourhood with great places to live, space for businesses to flourish and excellent access to the city’s beautiful riverside.
“In 2016, the Waterside area was still in a sorry state with large areas of derelict and unused land and buildings that were falling into disrepair.
“The completed Friars Mill stood as a beacon for the wider regeneration of the Waterside. It showed what was possible with the right investment and demonstrated our intent to transform this important part of the city.”
In 2016 the city council gained legal power to buy the 17 acres of land needed for the first £80 million phase of regeneration, appointing development partner Keepmoat Homes to carry out the work.
The council took vacant possession of the site in 2017, and demolition work began the year after, with work on 360 new homes and offices underway.
The first phase of council-led regeneration is expected to be complete in 2027.
