Cannon Brewery: £200m plans unveiled for 500 flats, public square and 'lush, green urban park'

Capital&Centric wants to keep the Water Tower and Brew House in the old Cannon Brewery on Neepsend Lane, Neepsend, and build space for shops, delis and cafe-bars. On Boyland Street to the rear, a new square would be the ‘perfect space for pop-up events, performers and installations,’ the developers add.

The firm has submitted outline plans for the £200m development to Sheffield City Council.

The gentrification of Kelham Island and now Neepsend have seen traditional businesses complain of being forced out as landlords chase soaring rents.

Development director Richard Spackman said the Cannon Brewery site was a “massive opportunity” to deliver new homes without displacing existing businesses. Crucially, a plan of the site excludes firms fronting Bardwell Road.

Mr Spackman added: “We’ve set out to make Cannon Brewery a standout community that draws people to Sheffield – one that respects and reflects back the industrial heritage of Neepsend. It’s a really challenging site to work on, but we’re progressing at pace because we see such pent-up potential.”

Once home to Stones Brewery, the site – made up of two triangular plots bordered by Neepsend Lane and Boyland Street - was the birthplace of the UK’s best-selling bitter at the time, before the doors closed for good in 1999.

It has been empty ever since and has become a magnet for street artists.

Capital&Centric’s outline application aims to set the initial parameters for the district, including the footprint of the new buildings, buildings to be retained, heights and access points. Plans for a ‘lush urban park’ will be welcomed by those who complain the up-and-coming area lacks green space.

Capital&Centric is also behind the Eyewitness Works on Milton Street, near the city’s Devonshire Quarter, which is currently starring in Channel 4 design series ‘The Big Interiors Battle’.

In February, Sheffield City Council also unveiled plans for a new park, public square and hundreds of homes, on nearby Bacon Island Park in Neepsend, on a wedge of land surrounded by the A61 Penistone Road, Rutland Road and the River Don.