Construction has started on the landmark 12-storey Hyatt hotel at the Sovereign Square development in Leeds.
Principal contractor GMI Construction Group is under way with the 305 room hotel, the last remaining plot on the flagship development site adjacent to the city's train station. The firm says 190 jobs will be created during the construction phase and 80 full-time jobs upon completion in 2024, when global operator Hyatt Hotels commences a 25-year franchise agreement.
The 140,000 sq ft hotel will be operated under the Hyatt brand by Interstate Group and will cater to business and leisure guests. It will boast meeting rooms, a on-site gym, a ground floor restaurant and bar extending externally into Sovereign Square and an independent rooftop bar.
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The development, funded by Abrdn/UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM), has been designed by Leeds-based DLA Architecture, which has taken its inspiration from surrounding architecture and Leeds’ merchandising and textile history. The hotel's façade will be faced in two types of brick, a terracotta red and light beige, with detailing around the recessed double/triple height window bays.
Meanwhile ground floor frontages will be behind a colonnade, with recessed detailing around the arch-heads and down the columns, with a glazed frontage behind. Chris Weathers, GMI Construction’s Group’s commercial director, said: "Sovereign Square has become a landmark in the heart of the city, being the first new public space to have been developed in Leeds for more than a decade.
"This striking hotel is the last piece in the development’s jigsaw in what has become one of the most high-profile, sought-after destinations in the city. It will complete the extensive regeneration of the area and further enhance the other adjacent developments and public green space."
Steve Ford, development director at developer Marrico, said: "This project will deliver a first class hotel in a prime location and helps address a shortage of quality accommodation for business and leisure visitors to the city. This is the final remaining development site in Sovereign Square, adjacent to the railway station and at the heart of Leeds vibrant business, retail and leisure sectors."
James Dunne, head of UK Transactions, Real Estate at Abrdn, added: "It’s fantastic to see the beginning of the realisation of so much hard work and commitment from all the parties involved in getting us to this start on site. The real hard work starts here though and it’s exciting to think of the premium product that is going to be delivered into the Leeds market by the excellent construction, development and professional teams entrusted with bringing the scheme forward."
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