Agenda item

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment submits a report providing members of the commission with an update on the delivery of new workspaces at Dock 3/4/5, the Ian Marlow Centre and at Pilot House, which have all been part funded by the Levelling Up Fund.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment submits a report providing members of the commission with an update on the delivery of new workspaces at Dock 3/4/5, the Ian Marlow Centre and at Pilot House, which have all been part funded by the Levelling Up Fund.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment introduced the report and noted that the strategy responded to a shortage of suitable land and premises and the report was an update on levelling up schemes and investment through this.  The programme being delivered was very substantial.

The Head of Economic Regeneration then presented the report.  Key points highlighted included:

• For many years workspaces had been progressed as a tool of development.
• The Levelling-Up scheme had been competitive and the Council had needed to bid for the funding for these projects.
• In the conclusion of the programme, the Council would be directly managing ten workspaces with a further two that had been developed over recent years that were managed by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of the Council.
• Currently the Economic Regeneration service managed six workspaces, these included the LCB Depot, Makers Yard and Phoenix Square Workspace, Dock 1 and Dock 2 at Space City and Gresham Works.
• Gresham Works had been opened in the Spring of 2022 in the building that used to be Fenwick’s Department Store.  This included co-working spaces for people in the city centre.
• The workspaces were aimed at priority economic sectors such as creative industries or the wider knowledge economy.
• There were currently over 91,000 square feet of space for business tenants and accommodating over 650 employees directly.  These also had a wider supply chain impacting the wider city and beyond.
• The capital projects mentioned in the report would deliver a 120% increase in workspace in a short amount of time. Once fully occupied, the portfolio would house more than 1100 jobs.
• Dock 3/4/5 followed on from the existing workspace of Dock 1 and 2, which had been very popular and had high occupancy.  Dock 3/4/5 comprised three further buildings including nine industrial units.  In Docks 1 and 2, industrial units had been popular.
• Sustainability credentials were important, and the Council had led the way in bringing forward sustainable development.  Dock 3/4/5 were net-zero builds which included a range of sustainability measures including EV charging and air source heat pumps.
• Dock 3/4/5 had been developed by the Council’s development team and were completed by development partner Brackley Construction in May 2024, and the buildings were in the process of being fitted out before new tenants moved in.  Several companies were moving in from early September and a public launch was planned for 2^nd October.
• The Ian Marlow Centre had been part of the same levelling up fund proposal which would provide further workspaces across 21 new units.  These were also sustainable with a high energy performance rating.  It made use of solar panels and was well insulated.  It was aimed for completion in October 2024.
• Pilot House built on the strength of creative industries in the city, with Leicester having a significant cluster of creative design businesses.  The building was a collection of six buildings that were council owned but were underutilised.  The project was bringing these buildings into a single complex and provided 29 different workspaces with a cafe, meeting, conference and exhibition facilities.
• Pilot House would also be a sustainable development, albeit that the project involved the refurbishment of a series of heritage buildings rather than new build which restricted what was possible from a sustainability perspective.  Despite these limitations, roof insulation and solar panels had been installed and a good sustainability rating was targeted.
• The Pilot House project was on track to open in Summer 2025 and there had been good work done in terms of the refurbishment.  There had been strong early interest in the scheme and 24% of the space had already been pre-let.
• Marketing for the Pilot House project would feature in the LCB20 celebration of the twenty-year anniversary of the opening of LCB Depot.

The Commission was invited to ask questions and make comments and the officers to respond. Key points included:

• The projects were praised, particularly in terms of the use of the sites and jobs created.
• Section 3.3 of the report outlined the number of units and companies anticipated.  The Council had some experience of managing similar space.  Dock 3/4/5 anticipated 54 businesses moving in.
• In terms of collaboration with the universities, De Montfort University was a key partner helping to attract inward investment in the creative sector and to attract graduates to take up jobs in the area.
• In response to a question about whether the land could have been better used for housing, the Deputy City Mayor for Housing, Economy and Neighbourhoods explained that whilst housing was important, it was also necessary to provide for employment uses based on strategic need.
• With regards to an observation that a lot of the land at the Ian Marlow centre appeared to be a car park, it was explained that the scheme was intended for industrial/commercial uses, and as such vehicular access for heavy goods vehicles needed to be provided, along with space for their large turning circles.
• In response to further queries about parking, it was noted that LCB Depot did not have parking as it was a city centre site and therefore it was desirable to encourage use of sustainable transport.  Pilot House would include people working in arts and design and as such there was less need for delivery access when compared to the Ian Marlow Centre.  There was a lower ground floor basement for some delivery access and cycle storage, but there were limited number of car spaces as it was necessary to encourage sustainable travel such as cycling or public transport.
• With regard to a point made about the glass roofs at Pilot House, it was noted that experts had been employed to maximise sustainability and see where improvements in that area could be made.  It was further noted that glazing provided a nice environment to attract businesses to move in.
• With regard to the plan to have a café at Pilot House, it was clarified that this was based on the success of the café at the LCB Depot, which added a sense of community as well as attracting wider audiences and encouraging the general public to use the building.  It was not intended to run the café in-house and there would be a procurement process to bring in a commercial operator to run it.  This would also create an opportunity for rental income, this would need to be ascertained at the procurement stage.
• It was clarified that the two workspaces at Leicester Food Park and Friars Mill were being managed by East Midlands Chamber rather than by the Council. This outsourced management arrangement was required as a condition of European funding at that time.
• In relation to the distinction between these workspaces and those managed by the Estates and Building Services Division, the purpose of the Economic Regeneration workspace portfolio is to support businesses in priority economic sectors (for example the creative industries). This was achieved through building a community of business and providing a range of support services at each site. Other workspaces in the corporate estate portfolio are held for a different investment purpose, e.g. for capital appreciation and the generation of ongoing revenue income, rather than providing sector support.

AGREED:

          That the update be noted.