04 April 2021
Looking beyond lockdown: £2.5m office refurbishment draws workers back to the vibrant heart of Leeds
London & Scottish Property Investment Management (LSPIM), the asset manager for office investment specialist Regional REIT, and construction firm J.P. Wild are completing the final stages of a £2.5 million Post-Covid refurbishment at The Coach Works in The Calls, Leeds.
The refurbishment includes a range of new safety measures to protect the building’s users against Covid-19. The features include enhanced ventilation and super-loos. Arranged as self-contained cubicles, the integral toilet, vanity unit and hand-dryers all have touch-free operation. There are also automatic doors at the main entrance, so that people do not have to touch door handles, and hand-sanitiser stations by the lifts on each floor.
The refurbished property, which can provide working space for between 200 and 250 people, is partially occupied and currently being marketed.
In order to provide tenants with an improved range of commercial options the ground floor of one building is being offered in a fully furnished state – known as a “tenant fit-out”. Unlike the traditional “landlord” fit-out, which only provides a basic finish to internal spaces, a tenant fit-out includes infrastructure such as telecoms, floor sockets and room partitions. It can also include furniture packages.
This helps prospective tenants to visualise how they could use the office space. It also gives them the option to take the space fitted-out to their specification, but without having to pay any up-front costs. Instead, the fit-out costs are built into the rent and spread over several years.
Ben Mitchell, Senior Asset Manager at London & Scottish Property Investment Management, said: “We have worked with J.P. Wild on several projects and always been very pleased with the results. So, we are delighted to be working with them on such an innovative project.
“People have been working from home for many months and the strain is starting to show. Companies are concerned about productivity, maintaining organisational culture and training new recruits. This is particularly true for innovative businesses where human interaction drives the creative process. Given this building’s location in the vibrant, creative centre of Leeds, we wanted to create a great place to work that is both safe and inspirational.”
Stephen James, Business Development Manager at J.P. Wild, said: “The Coach Works has always been an iconic building in the heart of the creative area around The Calls, Leeds City Centre and so we were delighted and honoured when London & Scottish Property Investment Management asked us to deliver this project. We’ve worked with London & Scottish before and knew we’d be able to provide a refurbishment which would create unique and engaging workspaces for the creative industries. Despite having to work through tough times dealing with Covid-19 restrictions, lockdowns and delays on materials, our team are nearing the completion of the £2.5 million office refurbishment successfully and we couldn’t be prouder with the result.
“We look forward to working with London & Scottish Property Investment Management & BNP Paribas again in the future.”
The refurbishment was also carried out in collaboration with KPP Architects, BNP Paribas Real Estate and TB&A.