The Council's Strategy and Resources Committee met on Wednesday 28 June to discuss six bids that had been made following a marketing process led by CBRE. With the decision made to enter into negotiations with Urban Splash.
Urban Splash's proposals would see the ground floor of the building transformed into spaces for retail, food and drink businesses.
Meanwhile, the upper floors would be used to provide flexible workspaces, studio spaces and a gym, as well as a publicly accessible car park.
The plans also include the transformation of Barker's Pool and Cambridge Street entrances to be opened up to allow for outdoor on-street dining areas, similar to the popular seating introduced on Division Street. The developers plan to keep the existing car park structure but with fewer parking spaces for use by the tenants of the building only.
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Commenting on the plans, Cllr Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council and Chair of the Strategy and Resource Committee, said: "Breathing new life into the Cole Brothers building is an important part of the ongoing regeneration of our city centre. It is fantastic to have taken this next step forward.
"Sheffield city centre is on the up. We are creating a city centre that is a great place to relax, shop, work, eat and drink. Urban Splash have put forward an exciting proposal to reimagine a much-loved building and I can't wait to see it come back to life.
"We're delighted to see high-quality developers showing significant interest in Sheffield and wanting to be part of our city’s future. This is an exciting time for Sheffield."
Reflecting on their involvement, Mark Latham, Regeneration Director at Urban Splash, said:
"We are delighted to be entrusted with the redevelopment of the Cole Brothers building. We know how important this building is to so many Sheffielders and look forward to sharing and developing our ideas for its future together with the city.
"This scheme bears all of the hallmarks of an Urban Splash project; from Park Hill, to similar urban and civic listed buildings in cities all across England, our portfolio is filled with award-winning schemes that have been transformed through working with an original building, keeping the best of the old , while adding new design ideas and new life.
"We will adopt a similar approach in our plans for Cole Brothers – engaging with local people as we immerse ourselves in the heritage and emotional connections many have here. There’s a lot of hard work ahead, but we are excited to get started as we take on another Sheffield icon."
