Shire Hall Site, Castle Street, CB3

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Key Points

Summary

The Shire Hall site offers a unique development and investment opportunity in the heart of Cambridge city centre

Description

The Shire Hall site is held freehold by Cambridgeshire County Council and extends to approximately 3.2 acres (1.3 hectares).

The site currently contains four buildings (all of which are now vacant), associated car parking and areas of open space.

Shire Hall, built in the 1930’s, is the largest building on site, laid out over five floors from basement to third floor level around two atria.

The Octagon is a northern linked extension to Shire Hall, constructed in the 1960’s and arranged over four floors from basement to second floor level.

Castle Lodge (former Registration Services) is of single-storey construction.

The Old Police Station fronts Castle Street and is arranged over ground and first floors.

There are three surface car parking areas on the Shire Hall site, including the main car park currently used as a public pay and display car park, with vehicular from Castle Street.

The asset specifically excludes the adjoining Castle Mound (to the south) and the Civil War Earthworks (to the east), both of which are designated as Scheduled Monuments.

The Castel Hill lawn and 42 Castle Street are also excluded from the Shire Hall site, again to be retained by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Location

The Shire Hall site is situated in a prominent location on Castle Street, within a short walking distance of the city centre approximately 0.25 miles (0.4 km) to the south.

A number of the city’s most popular and historic landmarks (including the River Cam, the Bridge of Sighs and the Museum of Cambridge) as well as many of the Cambridge colleges (including Clare College, St John’s College, Magdalene College and Trinity College) are all situated nearby.

The site benefits from a significant frontage to Castle Street, which itself leads to Huntingdon Road to the north and Magdalene Street to the south (in turn becoming Bridge Street and then Sydney Street, the city’s main retail thoroughfare).

As well as being well connected to the local highway network, the Shire Hall site is well served by multiple bus routes from numerous bus stops on Castle Street.

Cambridge is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the UK, also making the site ideally situated for cycling, as well as exploration on foot.

The surrounding area is of mixed use, with predominantly residential, office, retail and student accommodation.

The area immediately to the east of the Shire Hall site (beyond the Civil War Earthworks) is residential; to the south (beyond Castle Mound) is Clare College; to the north is the Castle Court student accommodation and Castle Park office development; with the west of the site bounded by Castle Street itself.