Agents at property consultancy Harris Lamb have acquired a building next to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield for Tata Steel.
The business’ Building Consultancy was also instructed to oversee the refurbishment and fit-out of the building to accommodate offices and a laboratory.
Harris Lamb, which secured planning permission to build 101 new homes on the site of Swinden Technology Centre, Tata’s former Rotherham-based research and development facility, and placed it on the market earlier this year, was instructed to undertake a search for new premises on the company’s behalf.
The company required a building that would enable 65 office personnel to conveniently relocate from the Rotherham site, and also house a laboratory for specialist materials testing.
With several buildings having been identified, Tata opted to take on 2 Meadowhall Business Park; an 11,250 sq ft unit earmarked for refurbishment, located just off Junction 34 of the M1.
Andrew Groves, Director, said: “Working closely with Tata,we gained a clear understanding of what the business needed from a new building. This property best-suited its requirements, as the hybrid office and laboratory space fitted really well with the business park’s offering, while its position next to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, and its excellent transport links, made it a convenient site for those staff being relocated.
“The building was due to be fully stripped out to a shell and refurbished by the landlords prior to Tata signing a 10-year lease, something our Building Consultancy team was able to capitalise on after being instructed to oversee the refurbishment and fit-out of the building.”
Paul Wells, Director of Building, added: “Further to our team carrying out in initial inspection survey on the building, we were appointed to liaise with Tata and the landlords to negotiate and monitor the fit-out process through to its completion.
“The fact that the building was earmarked for refurbishment worked in our favour, as Tata was able to have considerable input into the design of the new offices and the incorporation of the ground-floor laboratory, enabling us to liaise with the landlords to configure it to accommodate all elements of the business.”
The 16.5-acre Swinden Technology Centre site is currently being marketed by Harris Lamb’s Residential Land team.
