Historic Leicester building to be redeveloped

The redevelopment of Leicester’s historic former Fenwick building has been given the green light, with a £17million investment package now in place.

The iconic 19th century four-storey building on the corner of Market Street was bought in 2017 by developer Aimrok Holdings, who plan to convert it into a 121-bedroom hotel.

The development will also feature four new ground-floor and basement commercial units totalling nearly 11,000sqft, along with almost 12,000sqft of flexible business workspace under a newly signed lease with Leicester City Council.

The development will be part-funded by the city council and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), with the majority of the £17million costs coming from a mixture of development finance and private investment.

Leicester City Council is investing £450,000 to fund the set-up costs for the new flexible workspace with capital set aside for the Leicester Economic Action Plan.

And the LLEP has agreed an investment loan of up to £4million from the government’s Growing Places Fund, which supports key infrastructure projects designed to unlock wider economic growth and create jobs.

‘The substantial private investment in this important scheme is a huge vote of confidence in Leicester,’ said city mayor, Peter Soulsby.

‘The Fenwick building is an important local landmark and its redevelopment will bring huge benefits to other businesses in this part of the city centre,’ he added.

‘Our own plans to create new flexible business workspace as part of this redevelopment will build on the success of our workspaces at LCB Depot and Dock and provide an alternative and attractive option for new or small businesses and freelancers looking for a city centre base.

‘The Gresham will be just the latest chapter in the ongoing revitalisation of this part of the city centre.’

The managing director of Aimrok Holdings, Andrew Crainey added: ‘We are very pleased to have been able to finalise the funding for this project in what is a very challenging time for everyone. This is testament to the belief in the recovery and long term view our partners have for Leicester. Our attention continues to be the redevelopment of the site to provide a strong product for the city.

‘Knowing that the country as a whole will take time to bounce back from the effects of coronavirus,  we will be incentivising potential future partnerships for the occupancy of the four available commercial units to assist in bringing benefits to other businesses in this area as we all attempt to push through into a recovery period.’

Photo Credit – 3844328 (Pixabay)