Sheffield plans for £480m retail rejuvenation

SHEFFIELD COUNCIL has revealed plans to make the city a retail hotspot.

The proposed scheme will consist of 900,000 sq ft of mixed use property, costing £480m.

Designers of the scheme, Leonard Design Architects, have drawn up plans for a retail and leisure space, and 200,000 sq ft of residential and office space.

Sheffield has 32% less mid-market retail than the average, and 85% less upper mid-market retail.

Specifically, both fashion and catering are significantly undersupplied, at 37% and 41%.

This demonstrates a major lack of retail and leisure opportunities in the 4th largest city in the England, but also presents a very strong opportunity to attract operators that can benefit from £9bn in available spend from a catchment of 2.6 million people within a one hour drive time of the city, not to mention the tens of thousands of people who work in the city centre.

Nalin Seneviratne, director of capital and major projects at Sheffield City Council, said: “These new plans provide a navigable, varied and attractive new shopping district for Sheffield city centre. The design merges with Sheffield’s award winning public realm and world renowned cultural assets – including The Crucible and The Lyceum theatres – and unites key retail pitches in the city centre from The Moor through to Fargate.

“This will consolidate an enhanced retail offer and also provide for food and beverage, office and residential to extend the attraction as an evening entertainment destination.”

Fashion and retail units will be located along Cross Burgess Street and Pinstone Street.

Mr Seneviratne continued: “Sheffield Retail Quarter Fargate and The Moor will be the epicentre of retail and leisure in the centre of Sheffield offering the pinnacle of mid-market and premium brands, along with an exciting array of leisure and catering destinations. The Devonshire Quarter will continue to be a breeding ground for exciting vintage and independent brands.”

Industry experts Harper Dennis Hobbs and Lunson Mitchenall are advising Sheffield City Council.

Jonathan De Mello, head of retail consultancy at Harper Dennis Hobbs said “For decades now Sheffield city centre has experienced rising retail vacancy, falling retail sales and lack of investment.

“This was principally due to a lack of new retail space in the city, configured for modern retailer requirements.

“The Sheffield Retail Quarter will change all that, propelling the city 11 places up the retail rankings, and creating a true retail ‘circuit’ between Fargate and The Moor where there is currently a disconnect.

“There are considerable unsatisfied retailer requirements for the city and many operators currently trading in the city are doing so in undersized/sub-optimal units. The new scheme will satisfy these requirements, and address the issues of current undersupply in core retail categories such as fashion and dining.”

Councillor Leigh Bramall, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Development said: “Our tenant mix strategy embraces the views and market intelligence provided by our advisors.

” We recognise that Sheffield city centre currently has a very small proportion of fashion floor space against the national average but scrutiny of regional demographics and weighted average spend has allowed us to carefully plan the optimum size for the retail quarter.”