An artists impression of the Braunstone Gate development
Plans are being drawn up for a £60 million 550-home development which will transform neglected land close to Leicester City Centre.
The ambitious scheme, straddling the river Soar, will involve 300 exclusive private rented apartments, and a 250-bed nine storey student accommodation block. The scheme, by Leicester-based developer Sowden Group, will be submitted for planning permission shortly.
The development will stretch from Braunstone Gate, across a backwater of the Soar including land occupied by derelict arches which were once part of the Great Central Railway. The student block would be further along the river.
The development will be similar to another Sowden project, the nearby 11-storey apartment block in Vaughan Way. Plans are being drawn up by leading East Midlands architects Franklin Ellis.
Roy Coley, Managing Director of Sowden Group, said the Braunstone Gate scheme would bring previously derelict land into use again, providing much needed high quality city centre residential accommodation.
“This is a significant project which will open up an area which has suffered from anti-social behaviour. It’s an ambitious scheme but is already attracting interest from investors,” he said.
If planning permission is approved work could begin by the end of the year with the first tenants moving in by 20121.
Established in 1950, the Leicester city centre-based Sowden Group has been, and continues to be, involved in some of the biggest regeneration projects in the centre of Leicester, providing much-needed Grade A office space, retail units and city centre accommodation.
The group is also involved in residential projects throughout the county of Leicestershire, including major developments in Loughborough and Melton Mowbray.
