Reserved matters approval kickstarts regeneration of a seven-acre disused site on Sheffield’s Inner Ring Road to provide office space, shops and residential apartments.
Construction is expected to start within the next few months, on completion of ongoing demolition.
Planning approval was granted on Tuesday this week (17th August 2021), which was a busy day for Sheffield’s city planning committee. It also approved Godwin Developments’ application to build a 23-storey build-to-rent tower block, The Meridian. [See separate report here.]
The West Bar developer is Urbo (West Bar) Ltd, which is a joint venture between Urbo Regeneration and Peveril Securities (the development arm of the Bowmer & Kirkland Group). It has already secured the required £150m funding to deliver the first phase from Legal & General in the largest single private sector investment deal Sheffield has ever seen.
Ultimately Urbo plans to deliver a £300m mixed use destination.
Phase one includes the development of No.1 West Bar Square, an eight-storey building with 100,000 sq ft of offices with ground floor retail space. It also includes Soho Yard, housing 368 build-to-rent flats that will be operated by Legal & General as part of its ‘Build to Rent – Homes for Life’ portfolio. West Bar Square itself will be the landscaped focal point of the project, providing amenity space.
Architect is 5plus and planning consultant is Asteer Planning.
As part of the redevelopment, car parking overall at West Bar will be reduced from current numbers. A separate planning application for a new, 450-space multi-storey car park that will also form part of Phase One will be submitted shortly, the developer said.
Phase two plans for West Bar include a second Legal & General-funded, 100,000 sq. ft. office building, with further phases ultimately providing one million sq ft of mixed-use space.
West Bar is being developed on the Inner Ring Road between the Kelham Island district and Sheffield’s Cathedral and Castlegate Quarters.
Urbo managing director Peter Swallow said: “We have been working closely with Sheffield City Council and other key stakeholders for many years to bring forward this important regeneration scheme and we are delighted to secure full planning consent to be able to move forward with construction.
“No.1 West Bar Square delivers against evidenced demand for large footprint, high quality modern office accommodation that [is] currently lacking in Sheffield city centre. It complements the existing West Bar neighbourhood which already boasts key office occupiers including the Home Office, top 50 law firm Irwin Mitchell and the Crown and Family Courts.”
Peveril Securities managing director Ralph Jones said: “Our vision for West Bar is to deliver a much-needed new quarter for the centre of Sheffield, delivering on the city’s housing, jobs and regeneration needs with up to one million sq ft of vibrant new mixed-use space along with fantastic public realm for all to enjoy. Achieving planning consent is a major milestone and will enable us to realise this vision.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
