Leicester Waterside Area
New build office opportunity
at Friar’s Mill, Bath Lane
Waterside, city centre location
Rare opportunity to acquire new build waterside
offices adjacent to Leicester City Centre
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST BY 5th JUNE 2015
Leicester
Leicester is one of the East Midlands’ major commercial centres, located adjacent to the M1 and M69
motorways. The city has a population of 378,000 and frequent rail services to London (approx 1 hour) and to
Birmingham and the north.
The city centre has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of the Highcross Shopping
Centre, which includes a 225,000 sq. ft John Lewis, large scale public realm improvements including a new
public square (Jubilee Square) and the new Richard III Visitor Centre.
The city is now attracting significant inward investment with a number of blue chip companies choosing to set
up new operations in Leicester, including IBM and Hastings Direct.
Leicester Waterside
Just a 5 minute walk from John Lewis and the Highcross Shopping Centre is Friar’s Mill in an area of Leicester
known as the Waterside. This area, which is a gateway into the city centre, is designated as a regeneration
area and as the economy has improved, projects in the area are now on site.
A planning and regeneration strategy for the Waterside (see attached link) has been published and consulted
on. Adoption is expected during summer 2015.
www.leicester.gov.uk/waterside
Leicester City Council has secured £26m of public funding to enable mixed use regeneration in this area. A
major scheme of new homes, offices and extensive investment in public realm will be delivered by the Council
from late-2016. This scheme will link the Friar’s Mill site to the Waterside’s main frontage on the A50.
Friar’s Mill has been the catalyst for the Waterside development area. This listed, 18th century mill complex
was badly damaged by fire and subsequently acquired by the City Council. Work is now expected to complete
on the £6.3m refurbishment in October 2015, creating 15 managed work spaces totaling 2,300 square metres.
This site will be secure and managed on site The end users of Friar’s Mill will be high growth knowledge
businesses. This development and the two stand alone offices the Council are now looking to build are starting
to attract significant private sector investment in the area.
New office opportunities
The City Council is looking to build two new offices as part of the Friar’s Mill project, the location and setting
can be seen on the front page visual. The approximate anticipated maximum net internal areas are Site A 465 sq.m (5,000 sq.ft) and Site B 630 sq.m (6750 sq ft), both over 3 storeys. There is an opportunity to
potentially add a 50 sq.m (540 sq.ft) on the third floor of Site B. These sizes and storey heights are the best
architectural fit for the site. However if this exercise shows the demand is for smaller offices, there should be
an ability to deliver those instead.
The Council expects the offices will be completed by April 2016 and is seeking interested parties to ultimately
bid a premium for a 150 year peppercorn lease for the two separate opportunities. The winning bids will be
determined by a combination of price and complimentary suitability to the new development. This will be
outlined in more detail in a marketing stage once the Expressions of Interest have been assessed to determine
market demand. Please note that the City Council will not be restricted to the parties who have expressed an
interest when the final marketing exercise is undertaken and purchasers identified.
At the back of this document are details of the proposed specification it is anticipated the buildings will be built
to. Interested parties will have the opportunity to comment on this and the specification maybe revised in light
of these comments prior to the full marketing exercise.
Refurbished Friar’s Mill Visuals
Looking towards Friar’s Mill and Pumphouse from the car park
Looking towards Bath Lane Mill and cottages from the car park
Next steps
The Council is seeking expressions of interest on the enclosed form. These are due back by Friday 5th June
2015. Once the expressions have been received the Council will decide the timescale and on what basis the
properties will be offered to the market. The expressions can be e-mailed to the address below.
If you have any further queries on this matter please do not hesitate to contact Brendan McGarry,
Development
Surveyor
for
Leicester
City
Council
on
(0116)
4542139
or
email:
[email protected]
Waterside Draft SPD Illustrative Masterplan
Friar’s Mill
Proposed Site plan
These particulars are provided as a general guide to potential opportunities for new offices at Friar’s Mill. Every effort has been made
to ensure these particulars are correct but their accuracy is not guaranteed and they do not constitute an offer or a contract or any part
of an offer or contract
Expression of interest Responses
Please send back an expression of Interest by Friday 5th June 2015 which includes the following headings:Name of individual / company
Address
Nature of business and number of employees
Anticipated means of funding
Thoughts on some element of tandem parking to increase parking ratio
Any Further Comments
Maximum size of building required
Comments on the specification
The Council owns land to the north of this site and may be interested in a future phase 2 if your office
requirements are different to the 2 buildings to be built.
Potential future phase 2 size requirements
The brief proposed specification is as follows:
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Naturally ventilated office accommodation
Riverside setting adjacent to Grade 2 listed Friar’s Mill
2.5 car parking spaces per 1,000 sq.ft
Access to shared river side seating areas
Raised modular floors
Flexible, sub-divisible floor space
Part M compliant lift
High efficiency gas boiler
Perimeter convectors / radiators
Ability for tenant retrofit of air conditioning (on a floor by floor basis)
Cat 6 data (landlord or tenant fit out)
Green energy strategy consistent with planning guidance
Broadband Fibre to the premises
LG7 lighting
Emergency lighting to British standards