Specialist legal work undertaken by Sheffield’s Wake Smith has helped the city establish a new £5m pioneering northern neuro-rehab centre for adults requiring specialist care and treatment following brain injuries and trauma.
A team of commercial property and corporate solicitors at Wake Smith worked with Ray Boulger, Julia Leahy and Toria Chan from STEPS Rehabilitation Limited on the new 26,000 sq ft, state-of-the-art, neurological and orthopaedic rehabilitation and recovery centre on premises off Abbeydale Road South.
The centre, named Alexander House, is the only one of its kind in the north of England and offers 23 en-suite beds and features a specialist rehabilitation gym, hydrotherapy pool, games areas, café and hairdressers, and has been designed and built to create an optimal environment for patients with the highest level of specialist care and rehabilitation.
The project will create 100 new jobs, with positions including consultants, nurses, therapists, catering and admin staff.
Wake Smith’s work included guiding STEPS Rehabilitation Limited through specific healthcare tax issues, the formation of a development vehicle and structure to buy land and ongoing development and finance advice.
Lisa Davison, director and commercial property solicitor at Wake Smith, said: “This is a really impressive and modern facility. It is fantastic to see the finished result after being with the STEPS team on the entire journey since the very beginning.
“Our work has been varied on this project as there are many legal complexities surrounding a development of this type. As STEPS was the very first occupier on the site, we put together the legal framework on the land purchase. This involved working with the financial advisors to solve the tax issues for development costs as healthcare companies are exempt from paying VAT.
“We also guided STEPS, as a new developer and independent provider, through the best, and most effective, way to structure the project using a development vehicle.
“Our ongoing advice, together with the architect and civil engineer, has continued throughout the development process, including guidance as to the location of services, dealing with the discharge of planning conditions and site remediation, the procurement of construction warranties and development finance.”
STEPS is looking to attract patients from both the private and public sector with inclusive care packages. The design of the centre is very deliberately unlike a typical institutional healthcare facility and much more like a home.
STEPS chairman Ray Boulger said: “The development, although challenging at times, has proven a real success. After six years in the making, we are now very proud to have achieved Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration.
“There is a strong need for dedicated rehabilitation services like this in Sheffield to provide active and intensive rehabilitation for working aged adults with neurological and / or trauma issues, either on a residential basis or as an outpatient.
“We know that if we harness our commitment and care with patients’ individual drive and desire, we will achieve the best results. We can offer the tools so that patients can push their own recovery to the maximum.”
STEPS secured a substantial grant from the Regional Growth Fund, administered by Sheffield City Council, to help create the new employment opportunities at the centre, located on the former derelict 3.4 acre site.
Alexander House forms the first part of a specialist healthcare hub on the site, which already has outline planning permission as a Care Village.
