Corah redevelopment teed up in Leicester
Hybrid plans including large-scale demolition at the textile factory complex and the potential development of up to 1,100 homes are set for the green light next week.
Leicester City Council’s planning & development control committee will consider the proposals from CityRegen Leicester and Galliford Try Investments at its 1 October meeting.
Essentially, a two-phase project is in play here, with the initial smaller stage involving demolitions and a relatively small-scale residential project.
The hybrid application, recommended for conditional approval, covers a bid for full consent for the demolition of all buildings on site, excluding two chimneys and the façade of the 1865 Old Textile Building (OTB).
The OTB frontage and gables will be retained. Credit: planning documents
This part of the project also seeks alterations to the southern façade of the 1865 building and the erection of a six-storey building behind it, providing 45 flats – 20 one-beds and 25 two-beds – on the upper floors, with mixed uses at ground level.
A more modern panelled façade would be applied to the rear elevation, as shown in planning documents. Also proposed is a 4,000 sq ft single-storey side extension, for commercial purposes.
Most of the scheme is covered in the outline consent part. This includes a mix of buildings, the tallest proposed at 18 storeys, to provide up to 1,100 homes, commercial uses, and retail & leisure, along with a hotel and multi-storey car park.
Also in the plans is a pedestrian footbridge across the Grand Union Canal with associated landscaping, public realm and associated infrastructure.
According to the planning statement submitted by planning advisor DPP, it is likely the whole of the second phase’s residential element would be build-to-rent apartments.
Officers set out in the application summary that 72 letters of objection were received for the Burleys Way project’s original iteration, with 32 more following since plans were amended.
Letters of objection have also been received from Leicester Civic Society, Council for British Archaeology, Twentieth Century Society and Historic Buildings & Places, relating to impact on heritage, loss of historic industrial buildings, lack of affordable housing, public realm and the perceived quality of the proposed development.
Against that, 31 letters of support have been recorded, championing the much-awaited redevelopment of the Corah site, the need for housing generally, and the positive impact of better links to Abbey Park and the city centre.
Plans for redevelopment were first pursued in 2006, with a 2010 consent never actioned.
A modern look is planned for the OTB’s rear elevation. Credit: planning documents
CityRegen Leicester is a local operator, backed by the heavyweight property group Galliford Try’s investment arm. Along with DPP, AHR is on board as architect for the OTB heritage scheme, with Maber working as overall masterplan architect. BWB, CBRE, and Locus Consulting are also on the professional team.
On the OTB, historically the principal building at the heart to the factory, AHR said in its design & access statement that “the OTB will be re-emphasised and celebrated as the masterplan’s focal centrepiece building, creating a hub and a heart for the wider regeneration.
“Whilst currently the building is in a perilous derelict condition, including roofing having to be recently removed, the proposals will carefully retain the main southern façade and reconstruct the gables.”
All documents relating to the project can be viewed on LCC’s planning portal with the reference 20220709.
