Sheffield has a “chronic shortage” of top quality office space, warns council

West Bar Square is a long standing project which aims to extend the city centre to Riverside, Kelham and Castlegate. The council says it will also remove a “physical and psychological barrier” between Burngreave and the city centre.

Mostly vacant land and temporary car parks will be transformed with large scale offices, 368 apartments, independent cafes and green spaces.

It’s one of the few central sites that can accommodate large offices and is particularly well suited to the public sector as it has lower rents than the core city centre.

The Department for Work and Pensions, Home Office and Department for Education are already based there and the Government Property Agency is actively looking at regional cities.

Council officer Neil Jones says in a report: “Sheffield has a chronic shortage of Grade A office space.

“Other than Grosvenor House, which the council developed as part of Heart of the City, virtually no new office development has been constructed since 2016-2017 when St Pauls Place, Acero at Digital Campus and Steel City House were completed.

“All of these buildings have subsequently been let. Only 17,000 sq. ft of Grade A stock is currently available, which is all in small suites across a number of buildings.

“This is the lowest ever supply on record – lettings of Grade A space in the city centre has typically averaged 118,000sq ft per annum.

“Consequently, any major occupiers will have to either wait 12- 24 months for a pipeline building or compromise by taking a lower standard of accommodation. This could have a very detrimental impact on the future growth of the economy.”

The council says despite coronavirus prompting a mass shift to home working, there will still be a need for offices.

The report adds: “The impact of Covid on future office demand remains to be fully clear. Whilst many employers have realised they can work effectively from home, it has also become clear it is not likely to be a permanent move away from needing office space.

“In future, the quality, environmental standards and flexibility of space will be increasingly important and it is low grade offices which are likely to suffer most.

“The current challenge for occupiers is to determine their precise requirements for future needs. Whilst some are trimming space by around 20 per cent, businesses are also mindful of temporary lower occupancy levels and the need for social distancing.

“There is an accelerating trend toward deriving the maximum efficiency and flexibility of office environments.

“This can only lead occupiers toward more modern and well-designed contemporary offices, which can be future proofed in terms of layout and design to allow for flexible occupancy.”

The development will provide more than 500 construction jobs with the potential for 6,000 new jobs once completed. Contractors will be encouraged to employ local workers and to create apprenticeships.

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