Saturday, June 6, 2026

News: Capital&Centric awarded £100m Rotherham regeneration contract

Leading social impact developer Capital&Centric, is set to play a key role in delivering "high quality, legacy developments" in Rotherham town centre.

Rothbiz reported in March that Rotherham Council was appointing a private sector developer for the next phase of large scale house-building in the town centre.

The contract, which could reach up to £100m in value, has been awarded to Capital&Centric.

The Manchester company specialises in unlocking and transforming "unloved" brownfield sites into vibrant, design-led neighbourhoods. It is currently working on £2bn of development across commercial, residential, hotel and leisure sectors. In neighbouring Sheffield it has secured millions to progress plans at the Cannon Brewery site.

Rothbiz reported last month on John Moffat, joint managing director of Capital&Centric taking part in a panel at UKREiiF – The UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum, which was entitled: "Next Stop Rotherham - The Gateway To The Future."

In Rotherham town centre, the first phase of the contract will involve the creation of Strategic Regeneration Plans which will then be used to identify the methodology to bring various council-owned sites forward.

The sites include:

- the cleared site of the burnt-out buildings on Corporation Street
- Snail Yard - the cleared site of the former Primark store on High Street, currently a small pocket park
- The Statutes - the cleared site of the former Magistrates Court, currently used as a car park
- two sites along Sheffield Road in the area designated as Riverside Residential.

To be completed by next month, the contract for stage one is worth £397,442.

The second phase involves the creation of full business cases for each site and stage three is the actual development.

Tender documents show that a total estimated contract value across all stages is given at £100,000,000 but add "however this final sum will be determined as approvals to progress into Stages 2 and 3 are agreed." A total contract duration at this stage is not yet known and will also be determined by the first two stages.

Tender documents state: "This arrangement relates to the appointment of an experienced developer to work in partnership to accelerate the development of key town centre sites in the pursuance of the physical, social and economic regeneration of Rotherham town centre. The chosen partner will be expected to bring a commercial skill set, excellent track record and innovative concept and vision to enable the development of these strategic sites at pace.

"The partner requires a strong track record of working in similar locations and share the Council's vision to create a legacy of high-quality mixed-use developments. This will mean a commitment to creating communities, not just homes and demonstrable evidence of embedding a social value approach in all activity to ensure local people and businesses will benefit from this investment."

Earlier this year, the Government announced a £2.3bn City Investment Fund that will bring together different types of finance, deployed flexibly to accelerate projects, expand city-centre housing and office markets, and support major regeneration schemes across the North. Documents show that it is expected to be used in "developing projects in the Don Valley Corridor, Sheffield city centre Innovation Spine, and Rotherham Town Centre."

South Yorkshire has also secured £85m from a new City Densification Fund.

The projects stem from the Rotherham town centre masterplan of 2017 which confirmed the need for more housing and leisure uses as a way to develop economic vitality, bringing more life, activity and spending back into the town centre, moving away from the traditional retail market. It also highlighted the need for derelict and long-term vacant sites to be brought into public ownership.

The aim is "to bring forward new development, diversify the town centre offer and establish a new residential community" with the latest plans leading "to the development of a pipeline of detailed and deliverable schemes which align with market demand and secure the Council’s ambitions for high quality, legacy developments."

Rothbiz reported in 2024 on the potential sites and funding for redevelopment. The Council's most recent major housing development was the £30m+ "Trilogy Collection" - Westgate Riverside, Wellgate Place and Millfold Rise - that has seen 171 new homes built in partnership with Willmott Dixon. However, a previous tender exercise for the £6m scheme on Corporation Street received no interest, likely due to the smaller size of the scheme.

Capital & Centric website

Images: RMBC / ESH

2 comments:

  1. More low rise buolding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah some more bungalows, meanwhile Barnsley's skyline is starting to resemble New York! 🤣🤣

    ReplyDelete