City Region fund boost for business development

The Sheffield City Region JESSICA Fund has provided two new loans for developments in the City Region.

The first loan of £5 million is for the development of the iconic, Grade II listed Steel City House, in Sheffield City Centre, by Scotts Developments. The loan will enable the refurbishment and addition of an extra floor at the property and provide c. 63,561 sq ft of much needed Grade A office space in the Sheffield Central Business District.

William Church, Director of CBRE Capital Advisors, the Fund’s investment advisor, commented:

“The aim of the Fund is to give developers the opportunity to secure much needed finance for strategic sites that will make a significant contribution to the success of the Sheffield City Region. They are projects that can promote sustainable employment, rejuvenate areas and create new opportunities for communities across the region. We are now seeing some of the earlier loans granted by the Fund be repaid.  This will enable us to ensure the funding of future projects that will be crucial to the continued regeneration and economic growth of the region.”

James Newman, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), added:

‘’These investments by the Fund will provide much needed Grade A office space in Sheffield city centre and underline the LEP’s commitment  to its strategy of growing the professional services and digital sectors across the whole City Region.’’

Councillor Leigh Bramall, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Development at Sheffield City Council, said:

“We are committed to positioning the Sheffield City region as a leading destination, not just for UK businesses but international ones too.   Key to this is having the ability to regenerate and enable further development across the region. The SCR JESSICA Fund is an intrinsic part of this regeneration.”

The SCR JESSICA Fund, which is made up of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Growing Places capital, aims to provide funding for projects at competitive commercial rates where funding might otherwise prove challenging in the current markets.

The Fund will commit capital to regeneration opportunities with a focus on office and industrial developments, which meet the ERDF’s targets on employment, remediation and floorspace outputs. The Fund is managed by CBRE Capital Advisors.