A new development agreement is set to unlock a £250m Sheffield scheme which has lain dormant since the 2009 collapse of Castlemore Securities.
Sheffield city council, Urbo Regeneration and administrators to Castlemore at PwC have agreed terms to bring forward a new masterplan for West Bar in the city centre.
The revised scheme, which replaces a 1.8m sq ft high-rise development conceived by Castlemore, includes 600,000 sq ft of offices, 200 homes, shops and leisure space.
The council hopes the low-rise scheme will attract major new occupiers to the city. It will centre on a newly landscaped West Bar Square, linking the Cathedral Quarter to the Riverside district.
Urbo managing director Peter Swallow said: “We have worked tirelessly with Sheffield city council to get this development resurrected and off the ground. Now we can now forge ahead with creating Sheffield’s premier business district.”
The site is in a former industrial area bordered by the inner ring road and is billed as Sheffield’s largest and most flexible potential office site as part of the Riverside Business District.
Castlemore’s administrators have been working for two years to strike a deal with the council and a new investor.
Site clearance will begin alongside the submission of a new planning application. Subject to consent and a prelet, construction will begin in 2016.
BNP Paribas Real Estate and Knight Frank have been appointed joint letting agents.
Urbo is a partnership between Bolsterstone Group, Arnold Laver and Co and AGD Regeneration. It controls the £340m Chesterfield Waterside scheme and Bradford’s £150m New Bolton Woods.
