A daily newspaper office is set to be converted to nearly 300 flats after its staff move out next month if latest plans get the go-ahead.
Sheffield daily The Star is moving from its York Street home to new city centre premises in the New Year.
Now proposals have been submitted to Sheffield City Council to convert the existing building, which currently houses 400 staff, into studio apartments.
News of the plans, which would see 283 apartments spread across five floors and provide more than 100,000 square feet of residential space, were covered on the Star’s own front page.
Earlier this year, the Star’s publisher Johnston Press sold the York Street building to property company Toscafield for £3.6m after deciding it was “not up to scratch” as a newspaper office.
Journalists and other staff at the paper are due to move to modern offices at The Balance in Pinfold Street.
Developer Mabec Property has written to the city council to seek prior approval for converting the office to residential use.
It said in the letter: “The site is located in a highly sustainable position at the heart of the city centre. A comprehensive range of employment, retail, leisure and other facilities are available within a very short walking distance.”
The building has housed the Star’s journalists for decades and the newspaper was also printed there until 2006.
It is one of a number of major disposals of office premises by JP over recent years which also includes the former offices of the Peterborough Telegraph, Northampton Chronicle and Echo and Yorkshire Post.
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Not up to scratch as a newspaper office?
It was fine when I worked there alongside some outstanding journalists.
Perhaps they mean the building is too big now after staffing has been cut to the bone.
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No it really isn’t up to scratch. There’s no heating and no air conditioning, the ceiling has collapsed in some sections of the newsroom, leaving gaping holes that sometimes drip water, toilets constantly blocked, and no staff rooms or any other kind of facilities.
It’s absolutely freezing in winter, and staff huddle around rented portable heaters, in coats, hats and scarves; summer sees the temperature climb into the high 20s, with sweltering employees reliant upon dodgy electric fans that just re-circulate the same hot air back and forth.
The whole building appears to be rotting away – fitting, given the state of the parent company.
I’d say I’m looking forward to going to The Balance, but God-knows how many of us are going to be made redundant shortly after Christmas, along with the unfortunate subbing people. We’ll probably have only a few weeks to enjoy it.
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You’re correct @exJP
With the number of staff laid off in the past year alone many publishers are finding themselves in buildings tool large for the number of people left working there so have put them up for sale.it also generates cash to offset the huge losses being accrued even though this is often the last throw of the dice when all other revenue generating avenues have been explored
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