Lord Kerslake officially opens final phase of Sheffield’s £130m Heart of the City project

Lord Kerslake was on hand to officially open Sheffield’s 3 St Paul’s Place, the final part of the £130m Heart of the City project.

Lord Kerslake, who was involved with Heart of the City project when it was first launched nearly 20 years ago, paid tribute to developers CTP and U+I for their “vision, bravery and commitment in creating an outstanding mixed-use scheme.”

3 St Paul’s Place is the first speculative office building in Sheffield to be developed since the recession.

The 10-storey office development, which comprises 78,000 sq. ft. of prime Grade A office space with each 8,000 sq. ft. floor offering offices suites from 2,000 sq. ft, is now ready for immediate occupation. Headline rents are £23.50 per sq for a full floor.

The construction of 3 St Paul’s Place began after an agreement was made between developers CTP and U+I with Sheffield City Council, SCR JESSICA Fund and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It was built by Bowmer and Kirkland.

The Sheffield City Region JESSICA Fund provided developers CTP with a £3.75m mezzanine loan to part fund the development of 3 St Paul’s Place in 2014.

Arup, the global engineering consultancy, has taken 16,000 sq ft of quality office space at 3 St Paul’s Place.

St Paul’s Place is a mixed-use scheme which features the 161-bed St Paul’s Mercure 4* hotel; No1 and No 2 office developments occupied by lawyers DLA Piper, RBS, Barclays, accountants PwC, Coutts and the Department for Education; a 330-apartment residential tower block; the famous “Cheesegrater” car park, operated by Q-Park; a casino; and restaurants and cafes including Pizza Express, Piccolino, Caffé Nero, Bill’s Restaurant and Café Rouge.

The architects of 3 St Paul’s Place is Manchester-based Hodder and Partners.

The marketing agents for 3 St Paul’s Place are the Sheffield office of Knight Frank, together with BNP Paribas and Cushman & Wakefield.

Lord Kerslake, the former chief executive of Sheffield City Council, commented: “It gives me immense pleasure to declare this tremendous building officially open.

“It is a classic example of a public and private sector partnership working perfectly to create quality in the centre of the city and I would like to thank David Topham, director of CTP for his huge resilience, Yorkshire grit and determination which has helped to ensure that this development succeeded.

“It has been an emotional journey, with 3 St Paul’s Place being launched in the middle of the last recession, but it has worked. It was a great challenge at the outset, but the building is now open and. Sheffield has done well out of David Topham.”

More than 60 property professionals, including representatives of all the firms involved in the project, attended a special lunch party on the 7th floor of the building.

David Topham said that 3 St Paul’s Place “was now open for business”.

He added: “It is very satisfying to open such an important development in the heart of Sheffield, especially since it was launched in testing economic times. We owe so much to everyone who has contributed to this tremendous success story.”

Simon Hesketh, U+I’s director of Regeneration, also said: “We are delighted to have reached this monumental point for St Paul’s Place, which has delivered an outstanding new scheme for Sheffield. As mixed-use regeneration specialists we are experts in unlocking urban sites bristling with potential.

“The success of St Paul’s Place and ability to weather the challenging economic climate was only made possible by the strong partnership we built with CTP and Sheffield City Council, exemplifying what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work in close collaboration.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →