Regenerated brewery to be 'given to the public'

Cannon Brewery is set to be turned into a new development of 550 homes

The developer in charge of regenerating a derelict Sheffield brewery has said public money was "not taken into the project lightly".

More than 500 apartments as well as offices, shops and leisure facilities are set to be built at the Cannon Brewery site in Kelham Island, which produced Stones Bitter until it closed in 1999.

Tim Heatley, director at Manchester-based Capital&Centric, said the company would "take what was private, and we're going to give it to the public".

The scheme has been given more than £11.6m from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, but once completed, he said there would be general public access to the new neighbourhood.

"I understand any concern and reticence that you get from the public because developers don't have the best reputation for these things," he said.

"The outcomes and the outputs that we deliver to the people of Sheffield are really important."

Only street artists and urban explorers are known to have been on the site since it closed more than 25 years ago

He said a mix of properties would be on offer including affordable homes, rental homes, and family-sized houses as well as apartments.

The 3.5-acre site will include public squares, parks and play areas so it "becomes entirely publicly accessible, reconnecting this part of Sheffield".

"We're going to destroy the walls, not build a wall, and let people in and through and get them to interact with it, hang out there, dwell there, work in the workspaces, have a coffee there," Mr Heatley said.

A sports centre called Club de Padel has already opened on the site but, with construction beginning at the start of 2026, it would be "a couple of years" before the next phase opens to the public.

The main structures had been "so big and vast and derelict, and in parts dangerous", that the company bought the site without being able to access all of it.

Mr Heatley said: "We just had to take a bit of a view, hold our nerve, and we'll work out what we've bought once we've completed the purchase.

Cannon Brewery, which produced Stones Bitter, shut in 1999

"The only people that have been inside between us acquiring it and it closing down have been some urban explorers and street artists that have done some great street art and graffiti."

The brewery dates back to the 1800s and was once one of the city's biggest employers.

"Lots of people from Sheffield and around Sheffield have got a family connection to it, there's a huge amount of history," Mr Heatley said.

"We love that because we're able to preserve it and restore it and bring these stories back to life and crucially allow the public to get back inside them."

South Yorkshire's Mayor Oliver Coppard said the project was a "fantastic example of how we can bring brownfield land back to life".

He said the development would attract investment, create new space for businesses and strengthen the city's "well-earned reputation as a brilliant place to live".

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