Major step forward for Leeds’ £1bn Eastgate Quarter

The £1bn regeneration of the Eastgate Quarter in Leeds city centre has taken a significant step forward with the appointment of a high-calibre consultant team

Leeds-based Khalbros and Torsion Group JV has appointed an ambitious team combining other businesses from the city and internationally respected consultancies to deliver the major project.

Eastgate Quarter is the last major site in Leeds’s inner city centre set for regeneration. Based around Eastgate, the 4-hectare site covers land from Vicar Lane in the west to Bridge Street in the east, and from Lady Lane in the south to the A64(M) in the north.

Khalbros and Torsion Group JV’s plans will extend the city centre footprint, create a dynamic new community with new homes, workspaces, leisure and hospitality amenities.

David Khalastchi, managing partner of Khalbros, said: “Eastgate Quarter is a defining moment for Leeds as the final major regeneration opportunity within the inner city centre. Through these appointments, we are introducing Eastgate Quarter as a project of international significance, imbued with Leeds’ unmistakeable character.

“We, along with our investors, are proud to contribute to the long-term transformation of the city and shaping the future of Leeds."

Khalbros and Torsion Group JV acquired the Eastgate Quarter development in April 2025 in a landmark transaction.

With a strong emphasis on sustainability, placemaking and design excellence, the Eastgate Quarter proposals aim to boost the Leeds economy and strengthen the city’s status as a destination, repurposing important heritage assets for new public uses and incorporating public and green spaces in the heart of the city centre.

Dan Spencer, founder and CEO of Torsion Group, said: “This is a pivotal step in bringing the transformative vision for the Eastgate Quarter in Leeds to life. We are proud to have appointed such a strong and talented consultant team that brings together the best of Leeds-based and international expertise.

“The calibre of the team reflects the scale of our ambition for this development and our commitment to bring forward a scheme that supports the Council’s aspirations for inclusive economic growth and leaves a positive legacy for future generations.”

The consultant team that the Khalbros’ and Torsion Group JV has appointed to realise this ambitious vision includes RIBA Stirling Prize-winning architects, FeildenCleggBradley Studios (FCB Studios), as lead architect and masterplanner, and renowned Danish urban designers, SLA.

With an international reputation for sustainable and socially responsible design, FCB Studios has a long-standing relationship with Leeds, having designed the iconic mixed-use Broadcasting Place for Leeds Beckett University and developed the masterplan for Wellington Place – now a thriving business, community, and leisure hub.

Alex Whitbread, senior partner at FCB Studios said: “Eastgate has been a forgotten part of the city centre for decades. In its place our ambition is to shape a new mixed-use neighbourhood rooted in Leeds’ character, where sustainability, density and quality of place work together.

“Our approach will bring new life to long empty buildings and create a dynamic new public realm where we currently have empty lots and car parking. This new quarter will reconnect with surrounding residential neighbourhoods and help bring forward Leeds’ ambitions for an expanding city centre. Eastgate Quarter has the potential to set a new benchmark for socially responsible urban development and leave a lasting legacy for Leeds.”

World-leading urban design practice, SLA, will make the Eastgate Quarter a new destination for people to live, work and play, while also supporting biodiversity, resilience, safety and nature in the heart of the city centre.

Rasmus Astrup, design principal and senior partner at SLA said:
“We are thrilled to be working on such an important and transformative scheme for Leeds. Informed by Leeds’ unique heritage, our ambition is to help turn Eastgate into a true ‘Greengate’ – a neighbourhood where city nature, public life, and green infrastructure become the driving forces for regeneration.”

Leeds-based ID Planning will provide planning consultancy on the project. Roscoe have been appointed to provide structural and civil engineering services to the project. AMA will provide comprehensive highways and transport advice to support the Eastgate Quarter scheme.

A further 15 specialists and advisors will support the core consultant team. Yorkshire-based consultants appointed to the project include Urban Wilderness providing townscape visual impact assessment; Futuresecology providing ecology consultancy; Prospect providing archaeology services; and Social, providing communications and public consultation support.

Wider support will come from FD Global providing wind consultancy and advice; consultants Levrant, providing heritage support to conserve and repurpose key heritage buildings on the site; GIA Consulting providing daylight and sunlight surveying; and Tace, providing services and utilities consultancy; GDR Group (UK) Ltd providing compliance and ensuring the project's compliance with equality, diversity and inclusion policies.

The proposals for the Eastgate Quarter are currently going through a pre-application process with Leeds City Council, ensuring that the emerging plans meet the ambitions set out in the Eastgate Quarter masterplan document and make a significant contribution towards the city’s inclusive growth priorities.

Local people and businesses will be able to learn more about the Khalbros and Torsion Group JV’s proposals for the Eastgate Quarter – and help shape the plans – through a public consultation, expected to take place in the first half of 2026.