Plans to partially demolish arcade and build flats

Plans to partially demolish a Leicester shopping arcade and develop flats and shops have been submitted.

A separate scheme to bulldoze the Odeon Arcade, which links Market Place and Cank Street, was refused and branded "overbearing" by Leicester City Council in September 2023.

Now, a new application has been lodged by Odeon Arcade Ltd to create 13 retail units and 39 flats on the site within a five-storey building.

The previous proposal was turned down over a "number of significant and fundamental issues", but the latest applicant said it had taken on board the reasons for refusal.

The new scheme proposes retaining the facade to Market Place and includes cycle parking provision.

City council planners found the previous designs would have provided unacceptable living conditions for future tenants and they criticised the "excessive scale" of the structure.

Planning documents for the current application state that the redevelopment "represents an opportunity to rejuvenate the surrounding area" and describes the new design as "innovative but not overbearing or out of place".

They add that the proposed structure will be "of not dissimilar height and scale to its immediate neighbours at No 30 and No 40 Market Place that are also four / five stories respectively".

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