Exclusive:Plans for new waterside hotel in Sheffield near historic site close to city centre unveiled
Plan to transform office and honour steel heritage site
Plans have been drawn up to create a new waterside Sheffield hotel near a historic city centre site.
Developers want to transform the building,which has been used as the offices of law firm Irwin Mitchell, next to the River Don, for two decades.
Now plans have been submitted to Sheffield Council, which would see the building changed into visitor accommodation.
Investment firm Corum XL wants to reuse the existing building by converting it from a major office block into a hotel and ‘aparthotel’.
An aparthotel is type of visitor accommodation which mixes the sort of facilities people get in self catering flats with the services and facilities found in hotels.
A planning statement which accompanies the planning application, drawn up by consultants Iceni Projects, says there would be alterations made to the inside of the building to create hotel accommodation and associated amenities.
A new separate entrance would be created for the aparthotel unit.
There would be 223 rooms in total, with 117 of those done out as hotel rooms and 106 as aparthotel rooms, located close what was once the Riverside Exchange, once site to the Georgian, 18th century, Marshall’s steelworks.
Irwin Mitchell is due to relocate in 2027 to Elshaw House, in part of the Heart of the City development.
The planning document states: “The change of use is proposed due to lack of future demand for Grade B office floor space at the site following the conclusion of the existing lease. The proposed hotel/aparthotel has been identified as the most viable alternative use for the building based on market feasibility research.
“The proposal will retain the existing building in sustainable economic use, supporting the vibrant local city centre economy and providing a complementary use to the office-led development at West Bar.”
City steel heritage boost
The consultants added it would bring positive benefits to the local tourist economy and provide new employment opportunities.
They added their plans would also include measures to carry out improvements to the buried remains of the former Marshall’s Millsands steelworks by using what can still be seen of the site. They say it would be an attractive, legible and celebrated component of the new hotel.
There is currently plaque on the ground and a glass section in the pavement which allows the remains of the site 18th century site to be seen.
They added: “The improvement works will better reveal the significance of the heritage asset and provide a focal point within the site.”
They would control weeds and improve the glazing, and provide more information to explain the history of the site.