£84m PRS and student site sold ahead of development work starting

A property development firm has sold an £84m residential and student scheme in Sheffield ahead of building work getting underway.

According to reports, Mace has sold its mixed-use residential and student development site at Hoyle Street to West Midlands developer, Cassidy Group. Work is due to start in February on the site, which is the former HSBC location in Sheffield city centre.

The development was given the green light in August and includes 247 new homes, made up of studios, one bed and two bed flats all set around a landscaped courtyard. The student scheme will consist of 658 student beds, comprising studios, cluster flats and townhouses, which also benefit from dedicated, private open space.

The plans, submitted by Mace, focused on bringing a neglected part of Sheffield’s industrial heritage to the fore, making an iconic Grade II listed cementation furnace on the site the focal point of the development. Daniel Doncaster and Sons built the furnace in 1848 to produce steel through the cementation process.

HSBC left Hoyle Street in 2016, moving staff to Griffin House on Silver Street Head ahead of the firm’s move to a new building on Charter Square – Grosvenor House, which will be part of Sheffield’s Heart of the City II project.

Speaking to Construction Enquirer, David Grover, Mace’s Chief Operating Officer for Development, said: “This sale reflects the strength of the market in Sheffield – things are moving really quickly and there is clearly huge potential for further development and growth in the city.

“I am pleased that we have been able to sell the project to a British development company with a great track record of delivering similar schemes across the country. Mace is continuing to invest substantially in its wider pipeline of student, residential and mixed-use sites across the country.”

Patric Cassidy, Director of the Cassidy Group, said: “This £84m scheme is part of Cassidy Group’s current £650m UK development pipeline of projects spanning across 12 sites within seven cities, which will be delivering over the next two years working closely with our investment partners ‘Regency Project Management’ based in London.
“Cassidy Group are keen to acquire more student and PRS sites to create what will be a £1bn portfolio.”