Chesterfield firm lands property deal of the year award

The accolade recognises the £150 million of investment which was secured from Legal & General by regeneration specialist Bolsterstone in order to bring forward the first phase of the £300 million West Bar scheme in Sheffield City centre.

The deal represents a partnership between Legal & General, Sheffield City Council and Urbo (West Bar) Ltd, which is the joint venture between Bolsterstone’s sister company (Urbo Regeneration), and Peveril Securities (the development arm of the Bowmer and Kirkland Group).

West Bar is one of the biggest regeneration projects in the region and represents the largest ever single private property investment deal in Sheffield. The scheme was rescued from the brink of failure by Bolsterstone in 2014. Following its rescue from a previous developer, Bolsterstone then spent nearly 10 years to get to the point of completing the complex funding deal with Legal & General.

The deal enabled West Bar’s first phase to be brought forward, The first phase comprises the construction of two 100,000sq ft buildings providing grade A office space, 368 build-to-rent apartments and a 490 space multi-storey car park all set within a high quality public realm. The initial delivery is the first step in delivering a total of over one million sq ft of office, retail, residential and leisure space at West Bar.

Held at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the Insider Yorkshire Property Industry Awards were hosted by world-cup winning former rugby union player Kyran Bracken MBE.

Judges of the awards acknowledged that the ‘West Bar development will be transformative for Sheffield.’ Peter Swallow, Managing Director of Bolsterstone Group PLC who collected the award at the black-tie event, said: “I am delighted that West Bar has been recognised. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved in conjunction with our partners. West Bar is a truly collaborative scheme that will deliver lasting and far-reaching change to Sheffield City centre.”

Construction is now well underway with contractor Bowmer + Kirkland recently holding a ceremonial bolt-tightening exercise with funder Legal & General to mark completion on the steel superstructure. Construction is expected to be completed mid 2024.

Once complete, the West Bar development is expected to bring around 8,000 office-based jobs to the area and over 1,500 residents in the apartments. The regeneration of West Bar aims to regenerate a previously under-utilised part of Sheffield City centre and bring back to life an important gateway site as well as create a new business district for the city.

The Property Deal of The Year award is one of a number of awards that Bolsterstone’s projects have been shortlisted for in 2023.

The large floorplate grade A office – One Waterside Place – at the £360million Chesterfield Waterside regeneration scheme was recently Highly Commended in the Regeneration and Restoration Project of the Year category in the 2023 East Midlands Property Awards.

Like West Bar, Chesterfield Waterside is a large-scale regeneration project. It is through its public/private partnership model that Bolsterstone is transforming cities and communities throughout the region, creating new places to live, work and invest.

Co-founded in Chesterfield in 1989 by Peter Swallow and Mike Corker, Bolsterstone has built a significant reputation as a regeneration specialist and is currently leading more than three quarters of a billion pounds of regeneration projects working alongside the public sector – current examples being West Bar, Chesterfield Waterside and New Bolton Woods in Bradford.

In addition to regeneration, Bolsterstone is also renowned for commercial and industrial developments, acquiring new sites and redeveloping existing sites for major names like B&Q, KFC, Aldi, UPS and Costa.

“Whether it’s a private or public partnership, our aim is to create places people want to live, work and invest throughout the UK,” Peter added.