Developer Portable Living Group submits multi-million pounds plans for a hotel made from 25 shipping containers just outside Liverpool city centre. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool is a maritime city so it seems fitting it should be home to a hotel made out of shipping containers.
That is the proposal submitted to Liverpool City Council by developer Portable Living Group (PLG) for a site in the city’s trendy and fast-growing Baltic district. This hotel would offer 56 rooms Cains Brewery Village between Boxpark and Bongo’s Bingo.
In the application for planning permission PLG, which has delicered a hotel at the Eden Project in Cornwall, says it plans to operate the hotel for just 15 years, acknowledging the site will eventually be suitable for a more permanent development.
A statement with the application from planning consultancy Halliday Fraser Munroe, says: “The hotel will provide quality accommodation for tourists and business customers on a budget, with a particular focus on attracting millennials and young people.”
This scheme, called Snoozebox, also includes provisions for food and drink as well as a venue for live music and entertainment. The statement also says: “The temporary permission sought under this application is for 15 years.
“The proposal would ensure that the site remains occupied during this period by an appropriate meanwhile use until the long-term mixed use redevelopment commences in accordance with the Cains Brewery Village planning permission or any other future long-term application that comes forward for the village.
“The proposed hotel and associated food and drink and music venue will allow more people to visit and stay in the area, which will have a positive economic impact on local businesses.”
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In little more than a decade and a half the Baltic district, just south of Liverpool city centre, has been transformed from a lifeless and largely abandoned collection of old shipping warehouses, into the most vibrant part of the city.
As well as becoming a hub for hundreds of creative and digital businesses the area has also attracted entertainment venues as well as residential developers. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will open a new Merseyrail station close by 2027.
“The meanwhile use scheme represents a very high standard of design that would revitalise a derelict industrial site, therein contributing positively to streetscape character and surrounding visual amenity,” the planning statement also says.