Hanover Way Sheffield: £10m Nebula student flats set for completion after six years
A £10m block of flats in Sheffield is set for completion six years after the builder went bust leaving it open to the elements.
The former Spectrum apartments at the corner of Egerton Street and Hanover Way have been renamed Nebula after the project was bought out of administration by new developers.
Leeds-based Wilton Developments took on the seven-storey shell in Broomhall and aims to complete the project within weeks, after spending an extra £3.2m.
Builders are on site and students are set to move in in January, according to Harvey Mills, director of Cloud Student Homes which is managing lettings and will run the block.
It could be the final chapter in an expensive saga that began in 2015 when builders PHD1 collapsed. That left a structure with no windows open to the weather and 152 investors in China, Malaysia and Singapore in limbo.
They had snapped up all flats costing £60,000 before they were built. After work stopped, there was ‘significant weather damage’ and the theft of anything of value including pipes and cables.
Why are Hanover Way student flats in Sheffield taking so long to complete?
In 2019, with a different builder, they tried again to complete the job after winning planning permission to save money by leaving out some ‘green’ features and public art. But work ground to a halt.
Now, with new developers, investors have some prospect of making a return.
Mr Mills said new cladding rules had led to more expense and delays which meant students had had to go into ‘alternative accommodation’. But 40 of the 155 units had already been taken.
He added: “It’s turned the developers grey. But it’s going to get finished and be a success story.”
