Sheffield's Orchard Square shopping centre put up for sale for £16m

Orchard Square is home to shops including Waterstones and TX Maxx as well as restaurants and bars

Sheffield's Orchard Square shopping centre has been put up for sale.

Owners London & Associated Properties (LAP) have set an asking price of £16.2m for the site off Fargate.

Orchard Square is home to retailers including TK Maxx, Waterstones and Virgin Money, as well as Sheffield Plate food hall, bars and restaurants.

Its upper floors are currently being converted into flats as part of a refurbishment funded by nearly £1m in grants from Sheffield City Council.

Estate agent Savills, which is marketing the property, said there was an "exciting opportunity" to acquire a city centre site with 25 retail units, 11 craft shops and three storeys of offices.

LAP bought the shopping centre for £15.8m in 1999.

A spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange-listed firm said it was "now ready to hand on the baton to the next owners".

Chairman and chief executive John Heller told investors last year the company was "moving away from fashion-orientated shopping centres and investing instead in other real estate sectors".

LAP has sought to reposition Orchard Square as a food and drink destination, with new openings this year including a craft beer and cider bar and a Neapolitan pizza restaurant.

In November, the council awarded the company £990,000 from the government's Future High Streets Fund for refurbishment of the centre.

The money will be used for the installation of a canopy to cover the site's open air main square and the conversion of its upper floors into eight flats.