Sheffield flats: Huge office block The Balance to become 173 flats in drive for 35,000 residents
A huge office block in Sheffield is being turned into 173 flats amid a drive for 35,000 more residents in the city centre.
New windows are being installed at The Balance at 2 Pinfold Street to protect residents against ‘commercial noise’.
The 10-storey building will be divided into 109 one-bed flats and 64 two-bed. It will also retain a large, 106-space, car park.
Sheffield City Council has set out plans for 18,465 flats in the central area between 2022 and 2039 - which could mean up to 35,000 extra residents.
It has led to a building boom, with towers going up on Tenter, Corporation and Wellington streets. In total, 10,000 flats have been built or proposed in the last two years.
The city council hopes to turn its Moorfoot offices, Sheffield’s biggest, into 714 apartments.
Other office conversions include the Synergy Building on Hartshead, which is being stripped out ahead of £21m conversion into 108 luxury apartments.
Weston Tower at West Bar Green is set to be snapped up by developers, subject to a planning application being approved by the city council, and turned into a £70m block of 375 flats.
In March the council agreed an Environmental Impact Assessment was not necessary.