Pictured above: The Wolsey Building Officially Opens: (L-R)
Guy Higgins, managing director, William Davis Ltd; Sadru Visram
OBE, group chairman, LHA-ASRA; Mr Thobhani, resident (97); Matt
Cooney, chief executive, LHA-ASRA and Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester
City Mayor
Leicester's City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby has officially opened
a new Extra Care housing development which has regenerated a
landmark site in the heart of the city's Belgrave area.
The £14.4m* project, known as The Wolsey Building, has
seen a transformation of the site of the redundant and derelict
Sangra building on Abbey Park Street, into 103 new homes comprising
63 Extra Care apartments for older people and 40 affordable homes
for rent and low-cost home ownership.
Developed by housing and regeneration group, LHA-ASRA in
partnership with Loughborough-based contractor and developer,
William Davis Ltd, Leicester City Council and The Homes and
Communities Agency (HCA), who made an investment of £7.2m,
the completion of The Wolsey Building forms the first of a two
phase project which will also see the adjacent Abbey Mills building
being re-developed to create further new homes.
Leicester's City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "This is great
news. The transformation of this landmark building gives a new
lease of life to this derelict site, and creates much-needed new
housing for the city.
"I'm very pleased that this scheme has come to completion, and I
look forward to the next phase of this project building on this
success."
Sadru Visram OBE, group chairman, LHA-ASRA said: "This project
is a fantastic example of how partnerships work together to deliver
a creative solution".
Guy Higgins, managing director, William Davis commented: "This
was a challenging development with many complexities, none the
least the demolition programme and retention of the original
facade, including the iconic cameo of Cardinal Wolsey.
"With this area of Leicester being steeped in industrial
history, it is fitting that the design echoes the original Wolsey
Mill which employed hundreds of Leicester workers, many of whom
still have fond memories of their time at 'The Wolsey'.
Kitt McGrath, area manager for the HCA, said: "We are really
pleased to see this excellent project completed. It is just one
element of over £11m of investment that we are injecting into
the wider Abbey Meadows area to boost regeneration and provide high
quality, new affordable homes for local people."
Designed by Leicester-based architects rg+p, The Wolsey Building
benefits from state-of-the-art eco-technology in the form of a
bio-mass boiler system which runs on wood pellets, providing a
heating system which substantially reduces carbon dioxide
emissions. The new building has achieved Code for Sustainable Homes
Level 3.
*William Davis Ltd contract value £10m