A seven-storey block housing 126 flats and a restaurant is on the cards for land in Leicester city centre. The homes would be built in Sanvey Gate, just off the city’s inner ring road and close to Highcross's John Lewis car park.
The site earmarked for the scheme is currently used to store “earth-moving plant machinery and vehicles for hire”. The land is mostly clear, according to planning documents submitted to Leicester City Council by applicant Mitchian Group Ltd. However, there is a brick industrial building on the site, which Mitchian Group wants to demolish.
Earlier plans for the development would have seen an eight-storey block of flats built on the site, with 148, mostly one-bed, homes and three retail units proposed. However, following advice from the city council, the applicant has reduced the height of the building to seven-storeys – although planning officers suggested it should be a maximum of six storeys tall – and the number of flats to 126.
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Mitchian Group has also created a more equal balance of flat types at the request of planning officers, with 61 one-beds and 65 two-beds now proposed.
Planning officers also raised concerns that the retail units would not be taken on by businesses, leaving an inactive frontage to Sanvey Gate. In response, Mitchian Group is now proposing one unit on the ground floor of the new building, which it expected to be a restaurant, according to planning application documents. Prospective tenants for the restaurant have been “lined-up”, documents added.
There would also be a gym and pool on the ground floor for residents, the developer said, and a communal lounge and roof terrace. The plan would also see Old Mill Lane, on the corner of which the development would sit, widened to improve highways safety. Vehicle access to the homes would be via Sanvey Gate.
Some 36 car parking spaces are proposed, along with a loading area. A further 68 bicycle spaces would be offered.
The existing use of the land makes a “poor contribution” to the area and “under-uses” the land, the developer said.
People are able to view the plans and comment on them via the city council's online planning portal until Tuesday, March 25. The city council has set a target decision date of Wednesday, May 7.
