Sheffield City Council and developer Scarborough Group International (SGI) have entered into a development agreement which will see Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park transformed into vibrant, world-class community for the health, wellbeing, sport and activity sectors, creating up to 5,600 high-value jobs.
SGI has developed a masterplan for approximately 850,000 sq ft of commercial space across an 80-acre zone, which is already home to a number of significant sporting, education and research institutions, including the English Institute for Sport Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre and National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering, iceSheffield, Fly DSA Arena, UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and Oasis Academy Don Valley.
The developer intends to submit a planning application for the first phase of the scheme, which will feature a circa 40,000 sq ft Enterprise Centre to support fledgling businesses in the health, wellbeing, sport and activity sectors, by the end of the year.
Work has also started on the Legacy Community Stadium, which will provide 23,000 sq ft of flexible business space, a professional-quality artificial grass pitch and a covered stadium that will eventually have capacity for up to 3,900 spectators.
In mid-January 2021, a range of partners involved in transforming Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park into a leading community for the health, wellbeing sport and activity sectors, welcomed a series of other milestones that will take the development a step closer to achieving its future vision.
This included the news that Canon Medical Systems will create a new, world-class research hub for product development that promises to transform the speed and accuracy of diagnostics for the NHS and healthcare industry. Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust will also bring forward the development of a ground-breaking National Centre for Child Health Technology which will have a major impact on child health and the NHS across the country.
Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park reinforces SGI’s investment in the Sheffield City Region, with the group having recently announced its commitment to delivering the fourth and final phase of the £100m Digital Campus development.
At 67,000 sq ft, ‘Endeavour’ currently represents the largest speculative office scheme in Sheffield city centre and, when complete, will feature a dedicated marketing suite for the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park project, showcasing the full range of space and facilities on offer to potential occupiers.
Mark Jackson, Development Director at SGI, said:
“Having been selected as Preferred Developer in 2019 we’re delighted to formalise arrangements with the Council that will facilitate the delivery of the future phases of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, building on the incredible foundations put in place by the Legacy Park Limited team and its stakeholders”
“The Community Stadium is just the start of what Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park will have to offer. Our vision is to create a vibrant community for like-minded businesses, ranging from local start-ups to major global inward investment and, in turn, create thousands of high-quality jobs and stimulate economic growth.”
Councillor Bob Johnson, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said:
“The Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is a well-established hub for health and wellbeing, sport and education and cutting-edge research that will help to transform healthcare nationally, and this next phase of the development is extremely exciting for Sheffield.
“We are pleased to be working with Scarborough Group to bring substantial investment from the private sector to further advance this, bringing many benefits to the people of Sheffield, creating jobs and supporting our businesses.
“As the UK’s fourth-largest city with an internationally recognised reputation for our abundance of green spaces, sporting history and innovative thinking, we are well placed to welcome this new development and investors to the city. I look forward to working with all of our partners to deliver further phases of this trailblazing Park over the coming years.”
The Community Stadium is expected to be completed by Q1 2022.