Gregory Property Group has announced the completion of The Refinery, a new £30 million plus, 407-bed student residential development on the edge of Leeds city centre. A ceremony took place this week to formally handover the scheme to Fresh Property Management which is operating the site on behalf of investor Curlew Alternative Asset Management.
Despite many challenges posed by the current Pandemic, Leeds established contractor GMI Construction managed to complete the works on time for the start of the Autumn term.
The Refinery is located on a prominent site in Bingley Street, close to Kirkstall Road, a gateway to Leeds city centre, and was formerly occupied for more than three decades by Maxi’s restaurant as the first purpose built Chinese restaurant in the UK.
The 9, 10 and 11-storey scheme, designed by award winning AHR Architects, comprises studios and bedroom clusters with terrace and garden features. Facilities include shared social hubs, a cinema, gym, games room, concierge and state-of-the-art 24-hour security.
Barry Gregory, Chairman of Gregory Property Group said,
“We are delighted to deliver this project on time for our forward funders, Curlew and to enable Fresh to prepare for the Autumn term intake. We are very grateful to the team at GMI in manging to complete the project under near impossible conditions through the Pandemic. The team’s dedication and determination to succeed was evident in abundance.”
“Leeds is a top twenty university destination in England with a student population of around 60,000 students that continues to grow. We are pleased to contribute to the high-quality housing needs in the city.”
Nick Woolcott, Head of Project Management at Curlew said,
“We are very pleased to see The Refinery reach timely completion despite the unprecedented challenges faced over the last six months and credit must go to Gregory Property Group, GMI Construction and the rest of the delivery team. This development provides state of the art accommodation and is an excellent addition to our portfolio of student facilities across the United Kingdom.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Manchester office and Michael Leonard of Carisbrooke Estates acted on behalf of Gregory Property Group in the acquisition of the site and forward funding. Montagu Evans represented Curlew.
Gregory Property Group is a long established, local developer responsible for a number of landmark developments in central Leeds including three office schemes known as Springfield House Wellington Street, Belgrave Court Merrion Centre and Whitehall II. The Group also delivered the award winning £40 million Broad Street Plaza mixed use scheme in Halifax during difficult financial times.
