Member Article

Leeds’ tallest office building Pinnacle close to finishing £6 million revamp

The installation of three new 20-floor lifts is underway at Leeds’ tallest office building as the latest stage in a major refurbishment programme.

Lift and escalator manufacturer, Kone, is close to completing a nine-month, £325,000 contract for a full replacement of the entire lift running technology and computerised call system at Pinnacle Leeds, Albion Street.

The installation of the new lifts by Chertsey-based Kone, which has a regional office in Keighley, is due to be completed by mid May.

They are the final element of mechanical and engineering enhancement in a major £6m upgrade of the Pinnacle tower which started two years ago after the property was acquired by Moorfield Group (Moorfield) on behalf of Moorfield Real Estate Fund II in 2011.

Speaking on behalf of the partnership between Holbeck Land and Moorfield responsible for Pinnacle, Robert Firth, director of Holbeck Land, says: “Although the lifts are believed to be the fastest in Leeds, travelling at three-metres a second, they have been in use since the property was built as West Riding House 40 years ago and were in danger of becoming unreliable.”

““While the majority of the initial refurbishment is complete, we have many exciting developments in the pipeline, including the refurbishment of floors eight and 15 later this year, while a significant new leisure letting will be announced in the next few weeks.”

Other refurbishments and enhancements have included re-naming the property, full refurbishment of the ground-floor entrance and all lift lobbies; total refurbishment of seven floors to create new open-plan 5,100 sq ft offices to let; and launching Pinnacle Privilege, a privilege card scheme giving tenants discounts with nearby retailers.

Office occupiers at Pinnacle include actuaries, Barnett Waddingham; highway consultants, Steer Davies & Gleave; geological research company, RDR, re-structuring and recovery company, FRP Advisory; Optimisa Research and HM Courts & Tribunal Service while groundfloor retailers include Joy, Superdrug, Moss Bross, Next, Pret a Manger, Wish, Greggs and Tesco Express.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .