A special ceremony recency took place to mark a major milestone in the construction of the much-anticipated new £300 million West Bar mixed use development in Sheffield city centre.
The first phase 100,000 sq ft Grade A office building and two residential towers comprising 368 build-to-rent (BTR) apartments have reached topping out, with just months to go for practical completion. Two public realm spaces, West Bar Square in the heart of the commercial area and Soho Yard serving the residential BTR apartments, are also due to complete soon.
Senior officials from Sheffield City Council, Urbo (West Bar) Ltd, and Legal and General, which are all stakeholders in the significant regeneration project, attended the ceremony to celebrate the occasion.
Bowmer + Kirkland, principal contractor for the scheme, showcased progress on site from the top of the office building, No.1 West Bar Square, which acts as an impressive gateway for the site. It also presented the significant social, local, and economic impact achieved to date. This represents £14.9 million of value to the local economy with 57% of jobs created locally within a 30-mile radius, 288 apprentice weeks and the overall sustainability of construction demonstrated with 99.5% of waste diverted from landfill.
West Bar represents the long-awaited redevelopment of a prominent seven-acre brownfield site on the Inner Ring Road between Sheffield’s Kelham Island, Cathedral and Castlegate Quarters. It is to comprise one million sq ft of mixed-use space including over 500,000 sq ft of office accommodation with amenities, public realm and hundreds of apartments and the project expects to create up to 8,000 new jobs when completed.
After many years in planning, the first phase was able to commence following a ground-breaking deal to secure £150 million funding from Legal & General. This agreement represents the largest single city centre investment deal that Sheffield has ever seen.
As part of the agreed deal between Legal & General and Urbo, a second 100,000 sq ft office building will be delivered to follow No.1 West Bar Square. A new 450 space multi-storey car park is also part of the first phase which offers around 300 cycle storage spaces and electric car charging points. Connectivity into the surrounding walking and cycling routes is incorporated to encourage more sustainable travel.
