Representatives from Scarborough Group International, Walker Morris, OakNorth Bank and RA Real Estate stepped on stage to collect the coveted ‘Office Deal of the Year’ award at the Variety Yorkshire Property Awards earlier this week.
The ceremony, which took place on Wednesday 8 September 2021 at Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate, celebrates the many achievements and undisputed excellence of businesses in the Yorkshire commercial property sector, with the ‘Office Deal of the Year’ award one of the most hotly contested of the evening.
Fending off stiff competition from City Square House and The Majestic, the ground-breaking 118,113 sq ft pre-let to leading credit management firm, Lowell at Thorpe Park represents the largest single out of down office letting ever recorded in Leeds and the biggest office transaction within the Northern Powerhouse region over the last twelve months.
SGI secured planning consent for the new building in December 2020 as part of a commitment to invest £71 million in the next phase of office development at Thorpe Park Leeds. Despite the pandemic, it continued positive negotiations with Lowell to confirm the commitment and move forward to secure funding and start construction on site.
The new Lowell HQ building provides seven floors with two levels of podium parking and amenity below. In a departure from the standard Grade A specification, it will be of landmark design and constructed in line with the very latest human health and wellbeing standards.
Commenting on the accolade, Adam Varley, Head of Commercial at Scarborough Group International, said:
“We are delighted to have won ‘Office Deal of the Year’ at the Variety Yorkshire Property Awards. Our pre-let to Lowell as one of the region’s biggest employers is testament to strength of proposition at Thorpe Park Leeds. Connectivity, doorstep amenity, and health and wellbeing provisions combine to make Thorpe Park Leeds one of the most successful business locations in the North.”
Thorpe Park Leeds is the north’s premier business destination, strategically located with its own dedicated access at Junction 46 of the M1. More than 900,000 sq ft of office space is already built and The Springs retail and leisure park sits at the core of the mixed-use business community with a line-up of major high street brands including Next, M&S, ODEON Luxe, Pure Gym, Boots, H&M and TK Maxx along with a growing range of smaller, independent, niche retail and leisure businesses.
Further development plans include the delivery of a 113-acre public park with sports and wellbeing facilities for the community of the Leeds City Region and beyond. The phase two development at Thorpe Park Leeds was enabled following a unique investment deal with Legal & General Capital in 2015. Since then, a transformational 1.35 million sq ft mixed-use expansion has progressed bringing exceptional new business opportunities to the Leeds City Region. It has also enabled the delivery of the first section of the ‘East Leeds Orbital Route’ (ELOR), a key piece of transport infrastructure connecting north and east Leeds to Junction 46 of the M1. This road also unlocks land for the future construction of over 7,000 new homes on the East Leeds area.
The multi-award-winning development has been chosen for the new railway station ‘East Leeds Parkway’ and associated Park and Ride, connecting directly to Leeds City Centre in less than eight minutes. This forms part of a £270 million infrastructure investment into Leeds by the Department of Transport.
