Park Hill and Urban Splash Megathread

[0742Sheff 10]

Yeah I was up there last week and the views were out of this world. the best thing was that it was totally silent in the flat but open the balcony door and the noise of the city fills the background, I quite like that & if I lived there could happily sit out on the balcony all day watching the World go by.

 

The hum of the city would have me leaving the windows open constantly. If i had a flat over looking the city center, it would be perfect.

 

Unfortunately i look out of my windows and see other houses these days.

[BHRemovals 10]

good luck. How many have been sold so far.

[Cpt7 10]

For £120K, you're house will likely be on an estate overrun with chav's burning your car, threatening you in the street, breaking your windows and intimidating you.

 

It'll have a small garden, and have poor transport links. It won't have secure parking.

 

For £120K, you get a spacious flat over 2 levels in an excellent location for working in town or commuting. Your front door entrance will be closed off to the general public and you'll get a secure car parking space.

 

I'd rather have the flat.

 

My house was 120k, I live in Hillsborough, in a 3 bed end terrace with views over the park, I have a decent sized garden with no one overlooking me.I can park my car directly outside my house, Oh, and ive got great transport links with the tram 2 mins away.

 

I would also guess that the chances of chavs breaking my windows and intimidating me etc would be far higher on Park Hill.

 

Id rather have my house.

[ECCOnoob 1,020]

 

I would also guess that the chances of chavs breaking my windows and intimidating me etc would be far higher on Park Hill.

.

 

What makes you say that? Or is it just a hangover from what park hill USED to be like.

 

The area around park hill and lower hyde park has been completely transformed. New apartments, student accommodation, new offices and more hotel accommodation.

 

I would say with its improved security, restricted access and safety improvements its a far far less chance.

[DirtyHerbert 10]

The photo's I've seen of the project so far look impressive. I'm certainly interested in peoples feed back who visited in person.

 

I'll be considering buying one when I come back to the UK at the end of the year, but have concerns about the rest of the project been finished.

 

I grew up on the flats, as did my dad and most of my family before in the previous housing. I loved growing up on there in the late 80's and 90's. It certainly wasn't a no go area (as some people like to highlight, usually when they've never been). The views from my Grans flat must be amongst the best in Sheffield.

 

I don't live in Sheffield anymore, so it would be more of an investment. I'll excited to see the development later this year.

 

As for comparing them to terrace houses etc, it's unrealistic. The target market is different and there would be no comparable apartments in Sheffield IMO. I would have concerns about yields and also so many new units coming onto the market.

[katty 2 10]

I actually live on parkhill now. Ive been here twenty years. The flats that are for rent are goin to be about £120 per week minimum. The bloke in charge gave us the first preveiws of the flats and one thing that has been pointed out to the builders is we couldnt see anywhere to plumb in a washer or to hang out you washin. They will be underfloor heatin and not radiators as we have now. The also told us that if we are lucky the windows will be cleaned on the outside once or possibly twice per year. They arnt designed so you can clean them yourself as we do now. As ive got four young children i dobt find them practical to bring up a family now they have been done. Some of the walls and all of the upstairs bannisters are now made of sheet glass. They also seem to be smaller than they are now. Im sad to say it looks as if we will have to move away from parkhill as the new flats arnt very family friendly from our ( the current residents) point of veiw. Its no where near as bad as people make out on here and theres always people lookin out for each other. Always has been. Will have to see what the end product brings.

[chem1st 10]

I actually live on parkhill now. Ive been here twenty years. The flats that are for rent are goin to be about £120 per week minimum. The bloke in charge gave us the first preveiws of the flats and one thing that has been pointed out to the builders is we couldnt see anywhere to plumb in a washer or to hang out you washin. They will be underfloor heatin and not radiators as we have now. The also told us that if we are lucky the windows will be cleaned on the outside once or possibly twice per year. They arnt designed so you can clean them yourself as we do now. As ive got four young children i dobt find them practical to bring up a family now they have been done. Some of the walls and all of the upstairs bannisters are now made of sheet glass. They also seem to be smaller than they are now. Im sad to say it looks as if we will have to move away from parkhill as the new flats arnt very family friendly from our ( the current residents) point of veiw. Its no where near as bad as people make out on here and theres always people lookin out for each other. Always has been. Will have to see what the end product brings.

 

Nice to hear a resident's POV, sadly I don't think residents were consulted!

 

What I want to know is, as a resident of parkhill yourself, what would you do to make it more family friendly?

 

(And do you think it should be private/part private/social housing?)

[SUPERDREAM 10]

Nice to hear a resident's POV, sadly I don't think residents were consulted!

 

What I want to know is, as a resident of parkhill yourself, what would you do to make it more family friendly?

 

(And do you think it should be private/part private/social housing?)

 

My humble opinion says that its a shame that these flats wernt refurbed by the council, and let out as affordable homes for the people. Theres plenty of places to buy, so why this was destined to be a profit making complex is a mystery to me. I own my own home, but its in an estate thats been private for ever. But that was my choice, and I was in a position to do that. There are many people that cannot afford to buy, my kids included, and this is another poke in the eye to that spectrum of people. Right to buy was a mistake, and a lot of people are suffering because of it.

[Paul2412 10]

My humble opinion says that its a shame that these flats wernt refurbed by the council, and let out as affordable homes for the people. Theres plenty of places to buy, so why this was destined to be a profit making complex is a mystery to me. I own my own home, but its in an estate thats been private for ever. But that was my choice, and I was in a position to do that. There are many people that cannot afford to buy, my kids included, and this is another poke in the eye to that spectrum of people. Right to buy was a mistake, and a lot of people are suffering because of it.

 

I'm guessing it was because the council don't have enough money to refurbish such a massive place, then some dork from English Heritage decided it should be listed. The options were let it rot or hand it over to a private developer.

[Ms Macbeth 73]

I'm guessing it was because the council don't have enough money to refurbish such a massive place, then some dork from English Heritage decided it should be listed. The options were let it rot or hand it over to a private developer.

 

That's it in a nutshell. Plus there were lots of empty properties in Parkhill that no one wanted, especially during the early 2000s. There were generally lots of empty council homes in various parts of Sheffield because buying was so affordable. Once house prices rose sharply people started to want those council properties again. Unfortunately, because the council couldn't afford to have them all standing empty/being vandalised, some were taken over by other housing organisations and some were demolished.

 

So now we have a shortage. If only hindsight was available as a planning tool.

[GodStar 10]

Didnt Urban Splash announce they are 'putting on hold' the refurb of some of these flats / blocks?

Will we end up with a half finished white elephant when they send the company into administration to off load their debts?

 

Edit- ah yes..

 

Plans for a hotel to be included in the lower floors were withdrawn from the application by the developer.

 

The company was also given permission to reduce from 321 to 263 the total number of homes being created as part of phase one,

 

Under the changes, a pedestrian link to the nearby railway station will be left out of the current phase of the redevelopment scheme.

 

But Mark Latham, development manager for the building, said: “The level of ambition and vision has not at all been downgraded and we still want the very best for the building.”

 

An extension to the commercial uses for lower floors, to include restaurants, bars and a gym for residents’ use, has also been approved.

 

The other change is that plans for a multi-storey car park have been delayed and a temporary surface car park approved.

Edited January 13, 2012 by GodStar
adding stuff

[daniel3982 10]

I thought they were amazing when I went to view them, way nicer than most city centre developments and the views and finish are fantastic. I would be seriously tempted to buy if I didn't have doubts about the long term viability of the scheme being finished in the current climate.