Sheffield Council is spending £55m of its own money in an attempt to salvage the city’s doomed new Retail Quarter. The £400m project suffered a major blow last year when developer Hammerson pulled out of the shopping centre scheme.
The council cash will be used to buy a number of city centre properties between Pinstone Street, Moorhead and Barkers Pool. Several buildings within the triangle had already been purchased by Hammerson as part of its Sevenstone retail development.
Dogged by a series of delays the international developer withdrew from the project following a mutual agreement that allowed the local authority to look for a new investment partner. Interest has already been shown by 24 companies and a decision on a preferred developer is expected by September.
Unlike the original plans, the new slimmed-down £300m scheme will be built on a “block-by-block” basis with construction work starting early in 2015. The first phase is scheduled for occupation three years later and, when complete, should create as many as 2,500 jobs.
Businesses affected by the compulsory purchase will be given the option to stay in place to ensure the area remains attractive to shoppers during the transition. The Sheffield John Lewis store lies within the compulsory purchase zone but will not be affected. Nor will the Scottish Widows’ regeneration of the Moor shopping centre which, the council claims, would now be better integrated into the New Retail Quarter.
“This new scheme is all about the council taking control,” explained Nalin Seneviratne, Sheffield’s director of capital and major projects. “We want to drive this forward so that the public sector and the private sector can engage. This is very much a project about the council stepping in and spending money to secure the site and ensure we can take the scheme forward.
“We also want to ensure the scheme that gets developed is fit for 21st century retailing,” he added. “As online and multi-channel retailing grows, we want a scheme that can bend and flex with these trends, so we’re focusing on a project that links into the existing street pattern and is not just a shopping mall … It is all about future proofing.”
Independent research recently showed that Sheffield was “leaking” in excess of £70m a year in retail spend to places like Manchester and Nottingham. Last month also saw the new Trinity Leeds shopping centre notch up 22m visitors in its first year. Ben Curran, council cabinet member for finance and resources, said the investment of hundreds of millions of pounds into Sheffield would be a massive boost to the city’s retail offer.
“Sheffield city centre needs a high-class regional shopping facility to compete with the likes of Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham,” he added. “This will enhance the status of the city itself and in turn stimulate office, commercial and leisure opportunities in the city centre.”
Richard Wright, executive director at Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, said he was “absolutely delighted” to see the project move forward. “It is a critical development for the city and we applaud the extremely positive message this sends and the ambitious timescale it lays out.”
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