Member Article

Steel City House officially hits the property market

Scott’s Developments have appointed three commercial property agents for their redevelopment of Sheffield’s landmark building, Steel City House.

Commercial Property Partners (CPP), Knight Frank and Bowcliffe are tasked with handling enquiries from potential tenants as work commences on the comprehensive £5 million project which will see the property transformed into Grade A, high-specification office and workspace.

Commenting on the appointments, John Scotting, managing director of Scott’s Developments, said: “Each of our letting partners has been selected for their individual knowledge and expertise in prestigious developments such as Steel City House.

“Sheffield is a major city and deserves to sit alongside the likes of Manchester and Leeds as part of the government’s planned “Northern Powerhouse”. That can only be achieved through positive investment in workspace that appeals to the UK’s top professional organisations. In turn, we hope to attract further inward investment to both Sheffield and South Yorkshire as a whole with a view to boosting jobs and the regional economy.”

Explains Rob Darrington, a partner at CPP: “We are seeing strong enquiry levels for high quality office space, particularly in prime central locations. There is a distinct shortage of the stock that occupiers are looking for and Steel City House will offer over 60,000 sq ft of this sought after Grade A space.”

Adds Peter Whiteley from Knight Frank: “Steel City House occupies the ideal location in the city’s central business district. Just a stone’s throw from the City Hall and Barkers Pool, cafés on Campo Lane, bars on West Street, the Winter Gardens, Cathedral Quarter and opposite the social and culinary hub of Leopold Square. It also boasts excellent transport links, with a tram stop directly outside, and two multi-storey car parks in close proximity.”

Construction work on the property will include the reconfiguration of the entire ground floor – opening up the grand, double height feature reception – and the creation of a substantial business café offering flexible meeting space and leading to an impressive new atrium.

Outlines Scotting: “We will make the building fully DDA compliant and accessible for disabled people and install two new glass lifts in the atrium, complete with linking bridges, to create flexible floor plates that can either remain at over 10,000 sq.ft. or subdivide according to a specific tenant requirements.

“The newly built fifth and sixth floors will provide panoramic views of the city, both through the floor-to-ceiling glazing and on extensive external terraces. There will be ample on-site ancillary storage space, a gym facility, a “fast lane” access system, CCTV, on-site security and extensive cycle parking with showers and changing facilities.

“The Grade A space we’re creating will comprise raised access floors and suspended ceilings with high performance recessed LED lighting, and we remain focused on significantly improving the energy efficiency of the property.”

Concludes Jeff Robertson, partner with Bowcliffe: “Steel City House brings an exciting and unique proposition to the Yorkshire office market. Prospective occupiers will benefit from flexible, modern, open plan space in a historically significant, listed building. Surrounded by large national, professional, financial and tech-based companies, as well as a growing number of prospering SMEs, we expect interest to be very high from day one.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kirsten Howells .