Leicester: Buildings to be demolished for city centre revamp

Two of the relatively modern buildings will be demolished with the area opened up for smaller shops and eating areas

Two city centre buildings in Leicester will be demolished to make way for a new shopping area.

The city council-owned properties at 14 and 16 Market Place North will be torn down and their neighbours at numbers 12, 18 and 20 will be refurbished.

The scheme will connect Green Dragon Square with St Martin's Square.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the project was the "missing link" in revitalising the area around the market place.

Sir Peter said the scheme would enhance a "vibrant independent shopping area"

New paving will be laid to create a route for shoppers between the city centre's Cank Street and Green Dragon Square, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The land connected to the buildings, currently a car park, could potentially include units for artisan start-ups, bespoke and higher end retail offers and street food style outlets, documents published by the city council show.

Sir Peter said: "We've already done the link through into the town square, which is absolutely brilliant and everybody said after that 'well why didn't we do it years ago?'

"This is the next thing - a link through from Green Dragon Square to the very vibrant St Martin's area. It also opens up the car park at the back and makes that very usable."

He added: "It's particularly important because it goes through from the space that has been created in Green Dragon Square through to The Lanes beyond that are now such a vibrant independent shopping area.

"It's hard to believe now they were, not so many years ago, in a semi-derelict condition.

"It's been dramatically transformed already. And now this link will make them even more attractive and special."

The council bought numbers 12 to 20 Market Place North in 2019 and currently the buildings are either used for storage or are vacant.