Sheffield City Council (SCC) has received six high quality bids for the refurbishment of the former Cole Brothers department store in Sheffield, which forms part of the Council’s £470M Heart of the City regeneration scheme. Acting on behalf of SCC, CBRE’s UK Development Advisory team launched the strategically located property to market last year.
One of Sheffield City Centre’s most prominent development opportunities, the 200,000 sq ft five-storey building originally opened in 1963 and was acquired by SCC from John Lewis in January 2022. The building was listed by Historic England in Summer 2022. It holds a prime position alongside the core central streets of Fargate, The Moor and Division Street, offering a pivotal location which benefits from nearby landmarks including SCC’s Town Hall and the award-winning Peace Gardens, as well as an array of food, retail and entertainment destinations.
The property is an integral element of the Heart of the City project, one of the UK’s largest urban regeneration schemes, extending to 1.5m sq ft, and represents a multi-million pound investment by SCC. It is an exciting time for the city as the latest phases of Heart of the City are close to completion, providing active cultural, leisure, retail, residential and office uses to three sides of the former John Lewis building with heritage buildings fronting Cambridge Street being brought back into use.
SCC has received a very strong response from the market, with six bids received proposing a range of uses and delivery solutions that are in keeping with the Heart of the City vision and providing exciting opportunities to bring the building back into use. All of the submissions are from experienced developers with strong track records. This is a major milestone in repurposing the former department store, with the affection for the building and enthusiasm for the city shining through in many of the submissions.
Proposals are currently being assessed on economic, social and environmental benefits rather than purely financial, with priority being given to finding the right deliverable solution for the building and the city of Sheffield.
Due to the number and quality of the submissions received, further analysis and discussion with the interested parties will be taking place over the coming weeks and is required to ensure the optimal proposals for delivery are selected. A final decision will be made by the appropriate SCC Committee as soon as possible after the local elections in May.
Leader of Sheffield City Council, Cllr Terry Fox commented:
“This latest development is really pleasing to see and shows a keen interest from developers to work with the Council and share in our vision for the regeneration of the city centre – building on the progress already being made in the £470m Heart of the City project.
“I’m looking forward to the next stage of detailed submissions and seeing how the proposals for this important building can benefit all of Sheffield residents and visitors.”
