Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool secures three lettings – two food and drink ventures and a fantasy memorabilia store – in deals totalling more than 16,000 sq ft. Tony McDonough reports
Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool has secured a trio of new lettings.
Two of the tenets are in food and drink. Indian restaurant Delhi House Café has signed a 10-year lease for 3,100 sq ft of space and pasta specialist Pasta Cosa, trading as Francie’s, has taken 489 sq ft, also on a 10-year lease.
And House of Spells, a ‘fandom’ store for memorabilia and collectables from fantasy franchises, is expanding from its current space within the Pride of Liverpool store, taking 12,927 sq ft on a 15-year lease.
In May 2023 Royal Albert Dock changed hands in a £40m deal – a year after it was put on the market with a near £50m price tag. It was bought by London developer and investor, General Projects, and Dubai investment management company, neo capital.
Royal Albert Dock originally opened in 1846 and shortly before its 175th anniversary was given the title ‘Royal’ by the Queen.
It is made up of four Grade I-listed buildings – Britannia Pavilion, The Colonnades, Atlantic Pavilion and Edward Pavilion. By the early 1980s it had collapsed into dereliction. It was brought back to life by the Merseyside Development Corporation.
However, the dock was cut off from the city centre and ultimately floundered as a retail destination.
It wasn’t until the opening of the ACC Liverpool events and conference venue and the £1bn Liverpool ONE scheme in 2008 that the venue realised its true potential. It was reborn as a leisure destination offering bars, restaurants and museums.
General Projects has embarked on a series of public realm interventions to enhance the user experience at the dock. Shop frontages are being fixed and repainted, accessibility to and around the site improved, and investment made into cultural events.
Longer-term, General Projects is working with place design studio Planit on a placemaking strategy that will bring the site to its full potential.
An additional 5,330 sq ft of office space has been let, securing businesses including Heist LTD, Istay, Studio RBA, Think Publicity and Planit. The developer has also created 30 new SME workspace studios across the site. It means Royal Albert Dock is now 96.4% let.
Adam Brady, investment associate at General Projects, said: “It’s a testament to the compelling nature of Royal Albert Dock as a destination that we are able to attract so many great tenants to bring their businesses here.
“We take our role as custodians of this impressive collection of buildings seriously, but we also hope to create a fun and enjoyable experience for the businesses and visitors.”