Homes England Acquires Former Wickes Site In Sheffield City Centre for Area Regeneration Aims

[SheffieldForum]

 

Homes England has acquired the former Wickes store on Moore Street, Sheffield, with plans to develop the site into housing. The purchase, completed in October for an undisclosed sum, marks another step in the regeneration of Sheffield’s city centre.

 

A New Neighbourhood in the Moorfoot Area

The Sheffield City Council Local Plan envisions up to 364 new homes on the Wickes site, contributing to the transformation of the Moorfoot area into a vibrant new neighbourhood. The broader vision for Moorfoot includes up to 2,000 homes, integrating residential living with leisure and retail facilities.

 

Homes England has announced plans to:

 

• Start soft market testing for a development partner in early 2025.
• Secure planning permission for the site by 2026.
• Begin construction shortly thereafter.

 

A Vision for a Thriving City Centre

Mock-ups of the area from JPM Architects suggest apartment-style buildings on the Wickes plot and a reimagining of the Moorfoot office building with ‘hanging gardens’. Plans also include a new ‘Moorfoot Square’ pocket park, replacing current sites like Dempsey's LGBTQ+ Bar & Club and El Paso Restaurant.

 

 

This development aligns with Sheffield City Council's strategy to integrate more residential spaces into the city centre, responding to changes in high street trading and creating a mixed-use urban environment.

 

Building on Recent Successes

The Wickes redevelopment is part of a broader strategy that includes projects like Heart of the City II, which has been celebrated for its successful delivery of new homes, offices, and leisure spaces. Efforts are also ongoing in other areas, such as the regeneration of Fargate, as the city adapts to changing retail and lifestyle trends.


Previous related threads:

 

 

 

[butlers]

What a transformation  that area is having, 

[geared]

How does that picture translate to the current area?  I'm having a hard time visualising it in relation to existing buildings?

[SheffieldForum]

10 minutes ago, geared said:

How does that picture translate to the current area?  I'm having a hard time visualising it in relation to existing buildings?

 

 

Or, roughly, this:

 

 

[DavidFrance]

O.M.G. !   The city council should hire Ian MacMillan to compose a poem to make these “dream” pictures relate to what this area looked like when we very happy kids scrawmed around the bomb sites. No on second thoughts, here is my own contribution:  

 

From the depths of death and despair there came the euphoric sounds of relief and reuniting.

We saw our dads for the first time, and our mums cuddled us in front of sparse coal fires.

We played out late and played such great

games of fun, of comradeship and love,

we stalked the water in Stalker Lees, we walked along The Moor between the scars of

shops whose windows no longer gleamed of Christmas treasure, but

we dreamed and wandered up to Redgates where our dreams might come true. 

 

All these years later we walk along the dry and parsimonious passages of modern vision

and we wonder…..were these dreams come true?  Or simply all our nightmares?  

 

David France ©   2024

[hackey lad]

On 28/11/2024 at 12:04, SheffieldForum said:

 

 

Or, roughly, this:

 

 

Thanks for that . It makes things clearer 

[Clare2025]

I love how the city centre is becoming a nicer place to visit. I sincerely, very much hope that cycle paths and cycle parking is incorporated into all the new plans. I think it is so important to have cycle paths not on roads, which link up so that they can actually be used by normal people such as families. 

[butlers]

Think its only a page back that SheffieldForum put a link up for a new  24/7 cycle storage area for tge city centre

[Bellatrix]

What look like large trees sprouting from various levels of the Moorfoot building is an odd look.  Wonder how that will play out in terms of keeping the growth playing nicely with the creaky old building infrastructure and the elements.   Will they rip out any unruly greenery, disturbing any established ecosystems and wildlife communities, when it gets difficult to maintain, or the building starts to show signs of strain, then start again with smaller plants, then rinse and repeat? 

 

Seems a bit short term let's put some green lipstick on a pig and we'll deal with, or bulldoze over, the consequences later.

[Eggan Bacon]

Having left Sheffield in June 1971 for the Far East I have no memory of the Moorfoot area of the city. Will someone please bring me up to date.