King Street Sheffield: Shops and leisure plan to transform street next to proposed 'tallest skyscraper'

Colin Shinton, chief executive of Shenton Group, the parent company of developer Oppidan Life, says the company is still looking to go ahead with plans for the 40-storey Kings Tower, and are now going through the costing and funding phases a year after planning permission was approved for the scheme by Sheffield Council.

But he also revealed that they also now hope to bring forward plans to redevelop the other side of King Street, and that he personally would love that to include a second skyscraper.

The plans approved last year were for a 40-storey block at the corner of High Street and Angel Street in the city centre, on the site currently occupied by what was the Primark building until 2016.

He told The Star work was still continuing on the scheme.

He said: “Since planning was granted in January 2024 we have been working on agreeing the Section 106 agreement with the council. This includes a contribution to the Supertram. This was completed in September 2024.

“We are still looking to go ahead, Sheffield deserves architecture of this quality, and are now going through the costing and funding phases.”

But he also revealed plans to redevelop the other side King Street, which is the street which runs between Angel Street and Haymarket, along the side of where the tower would be built.

He said: “We are also looking to bring forward proposals for the redevelopment of the other side of King Street which we bought a few years ago and would like to do something of similar quality.

“The whole of King Street needs upgrading. We would seek to provide residential on the upper floors and leisure, retail and F&B (food and beverage) at ground to enhance the connection of the retail centre with Castlegate, and create activity and a sense of place.”

Asked if there would be a high rise element to the King Street plans, he said: “Personally, I think it would be great to have a second tower with a really active re-designed King Street linking Fargate and Castlegate, but that’s up to the city.”

King Street is close to Castlegate, where a multi-million pound project is being carried out to transform the former site of Sheffield Castle, which had more recently been the location of the old Castle Market.

The planned skyscraper on the former Primark site, would contain 428 co-living units.

It is not known how long the project will take to complete once construction begins. The first step is to demolish the existing building, which has been vacant since Primark moved out in 2016. The adjoining building, which was also part of Primark, is now an easyHotel.

There will be a commercial unit on the ground floor of the new tower and residents will have access to workspaces, a gym and private meeting and dining rooms, among other facilities.

A £75,000 contribution was agreed to pay for new and improved facilities at the nearby Castle Square tram stop as part of the planning permission.

Yorkshire’s tallest tower block is currently understood to be Altus House in Leeds, which has 37 storeys and is around 114 metres tall.

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The exact height of Kings Tower in Sheffield is not known, but it will have more floors than any other Yorkshire tower block.

Sheffield’s current tallest building is the 32-storey, 101-metre high St Paul’s City Lofts Tower.

Plans for Kings Tower were approved despite a number of objections, with one opponent branding it a ‘disgusting carbuncle of a building’, and Green Party councillor Ruth Mersereau saying there was no need for another student block in the city centre.

The developer said it would enhance Sheffield’s skyline, cementing the area’s regeneration and creating a ‘new destination in the heart of the city’.

Plans for a 39-storey tower with 206 apartments at the old Primark site were previously approved in 2020.