Helmsley Group unveils major Coney Street riverside redevelopment plans

The York-based Helmsley Group will also display its plans publicly and seek comment on them from Monday.

Feedback will further shape its ‘Coney Street Riverside’ scheme, for which it hopes to submit plans for to City of York Council in the autumn.

In recent years, the developer and property company has been snapping up sites along the riverfront and Coney Street.

The riverfront as shown in a computerised graphic from the Helmsley Group (Image: Newsquest)

Over the past four decades it has delivered riverfront schemes including Merchant’s Exchange, the Old Fire Station and Westgate.

Its latest scheme features creating 250,000ft2 of mixed-use retail, leisure, commercial and residential space, a riverside walkway and open space for the public, both on the waterfront and between the Ouse and Coney Street.

Comprising units 1-7, 19-33 and 39-43 Coney Street, ‘Coney Street Riverside’ will repurpose upper floors of existing buildings for residential and commercial use. There will also be new-build elements for student accommodation.

The masterplan for ‘Coney Street Riverside’ follows extensive consultation with input from key city stakeholders. The plans also fulfill a 50 year ambition to create a riverside walkway.

Coney Street as shown in a computerised graphic from the Helmsley Group (Image: supplied)

From Monday until October 3 the proposals are on display at 29-31 Coney Street, the former site of Dorothy Perkins and Burton, and now home to the University of York’s Street Life project.

Helmsley Group representatives will be present there on Friday September 16 from 1pm to 4pm and on Wednesday September 21 from 10am to 1pm.

Development director Max Reeves says the proposals, which he hopes will lead to a planning application to City of York Council in the autumn, follow three years of consultation and working with planners and other groups.

He said: “We’re now excited to share our vision to sustainably redevelop this thoroughfare into the social heart of the city, creating new public realm for the city whilst ensuring that the history and heritage of the area is not just recognised, but honoured and protected.

The riverfront as shown in a computerised graphic from the Helmsley Group (Image: Helmsley Group)

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sensitively preserve Coney Street’s story, while blending new architecture seamlessly with the area’s unique historical and cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy and benefit from.

“Since as far back as the Roman times, the River Ouse has played a fundamental role in shaping York’s history, and we want to honour that special connection by reconnecting this currently under loved area of the city centre with the riverside that it once benefitted so much from.”

Max added: “Our vision is to create an accessible, welcoming and vibrant city centre destination for visitors and the local community to enjoy and for Coney Street Riverside to act as a positive catalyst for city-wide inward investment.”

For more information or to have your say on the plans, visit: www.coneystreetriverside.co.uk.