£500 million is to be invested into commercial property in Sheffield, following a development agreement between Sheffield City Council and Hammerson PLC, which will see the Sevenstone Scheme revisited.
According to their website Hammerson, ‘has been creating and managing some of the most exciting retail destinations and office buildings in Europe, for over 60 years.’
The Sevenstone Scheme was initially unveiled way back in 2007, but following the economic slump, in 2008 the scheme was placed on hold indefinitely. The initial intention of the scheme was to convert a 20-acre site in the centre of Sheffield, creating 860,000 sqft of prime retail commercial property space and was to involve a major re-design of the heart of the city.
It was announced last month, that Sheffield City Council had agreed to provide a £10m loan to the compulsory purchase of the 20 acres of land needed to construct the retail scheme. And just last week the further development agreement was signed.
Richard Brown, project manager at Hammerson, said: ‘This announcement from the HCA is a significant step in the delivery of the scheme… Once this is completed, we will be in position to progress the revised masterplan.’
Sheffield City Council has long wanted a marquee commercial property retail space in the centre of the city. The city centre has suffered from a troubled few decades, following the collapse of the city’s steel industry and also the erection of the Meadowhall Shopping Mall, outside the city centre.
The original idea of the Sevenstone Scheme was to promote Sheffield as a top regional retail destination, rivaling competitors such as Leeds and Manchester.
The fact that the scheme is now looking likely to commence once again, is fantastic news for the commercial property market in the Steel City.
The Sevenstone Scheme is not the only development scheme to be re-started. During the past few months the commercial property market has seen a number of previously shelved development projects revisited, for example the Leeds Trinity Scheme.
