Bruntwood signals commitment to Leeds with landmark acquisition

Bruntwood, one of the UK’s leading commercial property companies, has completed a multi-million-pound deal to purchase Castle House in Leeds, a move that will see the firm increase the size of its Yorkshire portfolio by a third.

The acquisition marks Bruntwood’s sixth in the city. It demonstrates the company's commitment to driving growth in Leeds and follows the success of Platform, which launched in 2017 and is regarded as one of the region’s recent property success stories.

Bruntwood Works, the workspace, retail and leisure arm of Bruntwood group, will now design, develop and deliver the transformation of Castle House and the surrounding cluster of buildings. 

Castle House is one of the city centre’s landmark office buildings and spans almost 90,000 sq ft across 14 storeys. Situated on Lisbon Street in the heart of the West End district, it sits adjacent to Bruntwood Works’ West One building - one of the largest workspaces in Leeds city centre - and marks the next stage of the company’s expansion as it aims to double its regional footprint over the next few years.

Bruntwood Works will kickstart plans to bring together Castle House, West One and 100 Wellington Street as part of its £50m Pioneer programme - the scheme that creates forward-thinking workspaces centred on six key pillars: biophilia, art, sustainability, wellness, amenity and technology. It also highlights the commitment to creating clusters of innovative, like-minded businesses within its regions, helping customers to build strong networks across neighbouring buildings to fuel growth, and follows TTEC’s move to West Gate in 2020  - which marked one of the biggest property deals of the year.

The transformational project will connect the buildings through one central courtyard, and blend high-quality workspace with an independent retail and hospitality offering. It will mark Bruntwood Works’ first Pioneer project in Leeds and will transform the cluster of buildings into a thriving, collaborative environment that uses innovative design, individuality and flexibility to support the changing needs and desires of businesses post-pandemic.

Rob Valentine, Director of Bruntwood Works in Yorkshire, said: “The opportunity in Leeds is palpable. The inward investment the city has received over the last few years has helped drive growth and job creation, and truly put Leeds on the map as an economic powerhouse. Having spoken to businesses across the city we know they’re looking for quality workspaces that enable their teams to come together and collaborate, whilst still supporting a hybrid working model. The demand is there and this deal marks the first step of our ambition to launch our first Pioneer project in Leeds. It’s a hugely exciting opportunity and we can’t wait to create one of the most progressive workspaces in the city.”

Ciara Keeling, CEO of Bruntwood Works, added: “Bruntwood Works has a strong track record of transforming old buildings to develop inspirational, collaborative and sustainable workspaces that provide incredible environments for our customers to thrive in. We want to create workspaces of the future - those that support flexible and agile ways of working, and foster a sense of community, but also have outstanding wellness and amenity facilities at their heart.

“The Bruntwood ambition is clear. We want to invest further in Yorkshire, through both Bruntwood Works and Bruntwood SciTech - the joint venture with L&G - and the acquisition of Castle House is the next step on that journey. It marks an exciting milestone in the growth and development of our Leeds portfolio, and its location next to West One and 100 Wellington Street also makes it the missing piece of the jigsaw as it will enable us to unlock the full potential of the estate and courtyard within the wider area.”

Bruntwood Works creates, owns and manages inspiring workspace, retail and hospitality environments across Yorkshire, the North West and Midlands. It is part of the Bruntwood group and this acquisition demonstrates Bruntwood’s commitment to the Leeds city region and marks its ambitions to grow.

Work is set to begin later this summer, subject to planning. 

Castle House was acquired from Bridges Fund Management and Alex Whiting, senior director in the CBRE Leeds Capital Markets Team, advised Bridges on the sale.