Milestone reached at Sheffield’s £300m West Bar development

Sheffield city centre’s new £300m West Bar development has celebrated a milestone.

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) and Legal and General - all stakeholders in the regeneration project - attended a 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 £14.9m 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 deal to secure £150m of funding from Legal & General – the  largest single city centre investment deal in Sheffield.

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. 

Peter Swallow, managing director at Urbo, said: “We are delighted to reach this significant milestone at West Bar Sheffield which is a strategically important regeneration project for the city. 

“Indeed, it is integral to the transformational plan for Sheffield city centre, extending its prime core, and bringing forward much need new space for commercial and residential accommodation.”

Kate Josephs, chief executive at Sheffield City Council, added: “Sheffield needs high quality, energy efficient office and commercial space so it’s great to see this development close to completion.

“West Bar is a prime example of what can be achieved through strong partnership between the public and private sector.” 

Urbo (West Bar), a joint venture between Urbo Regeneration and Peveril Securities - the development arm of the Bowmer and Kirkland Group,