Is the troubled project finally being put out of its misery?
The fate of a familiar, famously troubled city centre development lies in the balance today, as the part-complete hotel on the site of Portland Crescent has been listed for sale by its owners.
The £32 million scheme was originally destined to be run as a Hilton franchise, and received £4.8 million of public funding in the form of a Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Initially due to open by the end of 2015, it has now been put on the market for offers exceeding £6 million.
In 2014 the construction was stalled for an extended period, and is still only completed partially on nine of the fourteen storeys for which planning permission was granted.
Owners Duff & Phelps have appointed commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) to sell the site.
“Over the past few years, strong occupancy levels in the city have resulted in a number of new developments coming to fruition to meet the demand.” says LSH director of hotels Hugh Anderson, suggesting that the development lost its competitive edge due to the construction delays.
“Due to the location of the site, which is a short walk from cultural and transport hubs and Leeds Beckett University, we expect the asset will be in high demand and as such, we anticipate a high volume of interested parties.”
At this point, it remains unclear whether the development will be resumed as intended, or whether a new owner will demolish all progress with a view to using the land for a different purpose.
