A major new apartment block with a swimming pool and gym looks set to be built in Sheffield.
It looks likely the 15 storey tower will be given the green light at Sheffield City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee at 2pm tomorrow.
A total of 103 one to three bed apartments have been proposed in plans submitted to the council.
The plans state 103 homes will be built on the site of the former Hallam Tower hotel near Broomhill, which was also known as the Forte Crest and the Posthouse over the years.
The location of the proposed apartment block
The star-studded hotel accommodated some famous faces in its time.
It was the Swiss football team’s base during the 1966 World Cup at Hillsborough Stadium, and during the miner’s strike of 1984 Daily Mirror proprietor Robert Maxwell had a secret meeting on the top floor with the National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill. According to Mirror journalist John Pilger it was this meeting that turned the paper against the strike.
A refurbishment in 1987 saw the opening of a gym. It’s members included Sheffield Wednesday football players and its then-manager Howard Wilkinson, along with the boxer Herol ‘Bomber’ Graham.
If planning permission is granted, the original tower will be increased in height by two storeys to accommodate the new homes.
Residents could lead lives of luxury – as well as the pool and gym, the applicant, Axis Architecture, has proposed a landscaped podium deck and underground car parking.
The council has received nine letters of objection from current Broomhill residents who are concerned the new flats will cause a loss of privacy for neighbours, as well as “unbearable” noise from the proposed construction work.
Other residents felt the building would be “completely out of character with the green suburb of Broomhill” which is full of Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
Some also felt the already tall building would dwarf its surroundings, further restricting an already limited amount of light to other buildings.
The council will meet tomorrow to make their final decision.
