4000 square metres of public and retail space, 24 executive boxes, two seating ‘bowls’, five-star dressing rooms and a 100 seat restaurant - these are just some of the facilities which will be inside the new multi-million pound Leeds Arena when it opens in 2012.

Leeds City Council has approved a 5.1 acre site at Clay Pit Lane in the city centre as the location for the arena, and decided to build the arena itself, rather than signing up a developer.

Leeds Arena will be operated by SMG Europe, which won the contract to manage the 12,500 seat venue last year.

Planned features include:

• Two seating ‘bowls’ – an upper of 7000 and a lower of 5300
• Flexible accommodation to host music, family entertainment and sporting events
• Suitability for events with an audience as small as 1500
• A restaurant for 100 diners and a hospitality lounge for 150 guests
• Reserved parking for disabled visitors and VIPs
• Over 100 concession/merchandise stands and retail outlets
• Sound proofing to minimise disturbance to the arena’s neighbours
• An anticipated minimum of 110 event days every year