Sheffield’s Heart of the City transformation project has received many awards and important visitors over the years since construction first started back in 2019 and, on Thursday, the flagship project was visited by a member of the Royal family.
His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester looked around the popular development and saw how it has reshaped that area of the city centre. The Duke of Gloucester has a background in architecture and completed a Diploma in Architecture from the University of Cambridge back in 1969.
As part of the visit, the Duke was greeted by the Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Professor Dame Hilary Chapman, The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Sheffield Cllr Safiya Saeed, Kate Josephs, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council, Kate Martin, Executive Director of City Futures at Sheffield City Council, Sean McClean, Director of Regeneration and Development at Sheffield City Council and Ryan O’Loughlin, Regional Director at Henry Boot Construction. During the visit Prince Richard was able to see the Isaacs Building before going on a walking tour of the project.
The flagship project has developed into one of the largest urban regeneration projects recently completed in the UK and has delivered a major new focal point for the city to drive footfall and has already grown the commercial, retail, food and beverage, leisure and residential offering.
Landmark parts of the project include the award-winning Cambridge Street Collective foodhall, the 154-room Radisson Blu Hotel, over 360 residential apartments and town houses and the rebirth of the former ‘Little Mesters’ workshops at Leah’s Yard.
Heart of the City has also developed Sheffield’s first park in the city centre at Pounds Park and brought several companies into the project with HSBC and CMS moving into Grosvenor House, Sheffield law firm Taylor Emmett moving to Isaacs Building and DLA Piper and Turner and Townsend relocating to Elshaw House, Sheffield’s first ever carbon-neutral office block.
Recent figures have shown the development has already benefited the city and help to boost the visitor economy, which grew to a record-breaking £1.85 billion in 2024. It has also brought more people to the city centre with Cambridge Street Collective welcoming in nearly 500,000 people within the first year of operation.
It has been an honour to take the Duke of Gloucester around our fantastic Heart of the City II development. It’s a project we are incredibly proud of and one that has transformed that part of the city centre into a place where people can work, live and enjoy all year round.
During the visit we were able to show The Duke how the project has mixed modern elements, such as Europe’s largest purpose-built food hall at Cambridge Street Collective, with echos of Sheffield’s industrial past right next door at Leah’s Yard. The Duke was very interested in the history of Leah’s and what it has been transformed into without losing much of the historic value of the building.
Heart of the City has been a brilliant success but there is more to come with new businesses, retail shops and food and beverage outlets set to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
Kate Josephs CB, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council