Pure Retirement has agreed to take 12,575 sq ft of office space in Paradigm at Thorpe Park Leeds, a major regeneration scheme which is being developed by partners Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General.
The Leeds established equity release provider has agreed a 10-year lease to occupy the top two floors in Paradigm which is the first speculative Grade A office building delivered as part of the £162 million phase two development at Thorpe Park Leeds.
Pure Retirement is a multi-award-winning lender that has grown considerably in five years to become one of the top five in the UK sector. It is recognised as the fastest growing company in Yorkshire and is number seven in the top 100 SME’s by profitability.
Paul Carter, CEO at Pure Retirement said, “Pure Retirement continues to enjoy major growth targeting a quarter of the UK market share in 2019 with £1 billion in lending. During the last five years we have quadrupled in size to £21 million in turnover with a team soon to total 91. We are forecasting similar growth over the next three years to become one of the UK’s top providers.
“To achieve this, we require suitably prestigious headquarters and Paradigm at Thorpe Park Leeds perfectly matches our aspirations. Despite some pressure to relocate to the city centre, we felt that Thorpe Park Leeds delivers the best in terms of accessibility whilst also offering the quality of office space usually restricted to prime plots in the city.”
“Paradigm will facilitate our rapid expansion plans and the impressive top floor terrace will provide fantastic social space for us to host our own events. We are also excited to see the opening of the new 350,000 sq ft retail and leisure park later this year which will provide abundant doorstep amenities for the team.”
Paul Holcroft, Head of Commercial Leasing at Scarborough International Properties, said, “We are delighted to agree this significant deal with Pure Retirement to occupy two full floors at Paradigm. It is good to see that the business, like many before it, has chosen to remain at Thorpe Park Leeds which is testament to the quality of space, environment and business support on offer.
“The majority of remaining space at Paradigm is now under offer which would leave just one 6,250 sq ft suite available. However, planning consent is in place to deliver over 900,000 sq ft of prime office space in phase two with design and build opportunities now available.”
Rachel Dickie, Head of Urban Regeneration at Legal & General Capital, added: “It’s great that we have been able to accommodate the expansion of Pure Retirement at Thorpe Park Leeds and look forward to supporting their next phase of growth. Paradigm is the first building to be delivered in partnership with Scarborough, creating quality space that is otherwise only found in the city centre. When the retail and leisure scheme opens later this year, Thorpe Park will also have a much improved amenity offer for those living and working in the area.”
Located directly off Junction 46 of the M1 motorway, Thorpe Park Leeds is an established business location with 800,000 sq ft of development built and occupied to date, including 600,000 sq ft of offices. Over 60 blue chip businesses occupy space at Thorpe Park Leeds employing around 4,500 people.
Following a £162 million investment deal with Legal & General Capital, Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General are progressing a transformational 1.35 million sq ft mixed-use expansion, bringing forward exceptional new business opportunities to the Leeds City Region.
Phase two of the development is now well underway with a new 350,000 sq ft retail and leisure park due for completion this Autumn. Occupiers will include Next, M&S Simply Food, Boots, Odeon and Pure Gym. The plan also includes a further 900,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, 300 new residential homes by Redrow and a 113-acre public park with sports facilities.
Phase two also includes delivery of the first section of the ‘East Leeds Orbital Road’, a key piece of infrastructure connecting north and east Leeds to Junction 46 of the M1. This road will unlock land for the construction of up to 7,000 new homes in the East Leeds area, land that is either already allocated in the Local Plan or which is ‘brownfield’ land.
The award-winning development has dedicated access to Junction 46 of the M1 and has been chosen for the new railway station, ‘East Leeds Parkway’ and associated Park and Ride, connecting Thorpe Park Leeds directly to Leeds city centre in eight minutes. This forms part of a £270 million infrastructure investment into Leeds by the Department of Transport.
Cushman & Wakefield, JLL and BNP Paribas Real Estate are office agents on Thorpe Park Leeds.
