Projects will see the creation of much-needed grade A office space in Liverpool’s commercial district and a 200-bed hotel at Princes Dock in Liverpool Waters. Tony McDonough reports
City planners have given the go-ahead to two major Liverpool projects – the £200m Pall Mall office development and a 200-bed hotel at the new Cruise Line Terminal.
Joint developers Kier Property and CTP submitted an application to create 400,000 sq ft including new office space, a hotel, leisure accommodation and public realm covering a large swathe of the city around Bixteth Gardens and Exchange Station.
The development is seen as essential to address the chronic shortage of grade A space in Liverpool’s central business district, essential to attract to blue-chip occupiers to the city centre.
When the developers bulldozed Bixteth Gardens to make way for the new scheme earlier this year, the move angered local councillors and campaigners fighting to preserve green space in the city. The plan includes new green space but opponents claim it will be smaller than before.
Cruise hotel
Wates Construction has secured planning permission to build Liverpool City Council’s new Cruise Terminal Hotel at Princes Dock in Liverpool Waters. The four-star hotel will support the terminal, which once built, will accommodate the world’s largest cruise ships. Wates’ planning consultant for the scheme was Jones Lang LaSalle.
The Cruise Terminal Hotel facilities include a lobby bar, cafe, restaurant, business suite and back of house facilities as well as visitor and coach parking, and a taxi pick-up and drop-off point.
Work is expected to begin in early 2020 and will see Wates fulfil a commitment to provide extensive training and employment opportunities for local people as well as boosting the city’s economy through the appointment of local supply chain partners.
Significant role
Dave Saville, business unit director for Wates Construction North West, said: “We are very pleased to have received planning permission for the new Liverpool Cruise Terminal Hotel, a development that will play a significant role in the growth of the city’s already booming tourism industry.
“Months of work have gone into the planning for the project in terms of its delivery and the added value it will create for local people and we look forward to bringing these plans to fruition in the coming months and years.”
Construction of the new hotel was procured by the city council via Major Works UK, part of Scape’s National Construction framework, which has been designed to deliver significant levels of local economic engagement as well as extensive community initiatives.
Wates’ design team includes Brock Carmichael as Architects, Curtins as Civil and Structural Engineers, Ramboll as mechanical and electrical engineers and Planit as landscape architects. Wates has also appointed Liverpool-based construction safety specialist Project Four to the scheme.