Water Street building has pre-application approval to be converted in to 141 residential apartments – removing a further 32,000 sq ft of accommodation from the central office core. Tony McDonough reports.
More office space is set to disappear from Liverpool’s central business district as Drury House in Water Street comes onto the market with a £4.5m price tag.
The seven-storey site, comprising 32,206 sq ft of space, is currently occupied by business tenants but has pre-application approval to be converted in to 141 residential apartments.
Chronic shortage
While the conversion of older office buildings to residential or leisure use is seen as a positive in terms of regeneration it is a double-edged sword for a city that is running short on quality office accommodation.
Agents at GVA in Liverpool told YBNews late last year that that city centre had lost around 1m sq ft of office space in less than two year out of a total stock of less than 8m sq ft.
In the last few months another prominent office building, Silkhouse Court in Tithebarn Street, has also been converted to residential use.
The shortage of grade A accommodation is particularly critical as it hampers the city’s ability to attract business occupiers from outside.
Additional new build
The pre-application approval for Drury House offers the capability to create 141 contemporary residential apartments utilising the existing expansive glass panelled frontage to Water Street and an additional new build development to the Drury Lane elevation.
The redevelopment proposal would comprise 108,644 sq ft in total.
Agent for the building Hitchcock Wright & Partners (HWP), says other commercial uses, such as a hotel, would also be suitable for the site.
Possible hotel
Brian Ricketts, partner at HWP, added: “This is a truly unique and rare opportunity to acquire something more than an existing building with refurbishment/conversion potential, which has been prevalent in the market in recent times.
“The additional adjacent development site gives a developer much further scope to create a new landmark building directly next to the iconic Grade II-listed India Buildings.
“While we are targeting the residential market we are not ruling out other commercial uses such as a hotel which the site would also lend itself to.
“There is a growing demand for high end city centre apartments and luxury accommodation for the city’s burgeoning tourist market.”