Developer Beetham sells 0.21-acre Liverpool plot to Home Bargains tycoon Tom Morris, paving the way for a 35-storey residential tower – first of a planned skyscraper cluster. Tony McDonough reports
First details of a new cluster of skyscrapers planned for Liverpool waterfront were revealed on Monday when the sale of a 0.21-acre plot of land was concluded.
Developer Beetham has sold a gateway site bordering the King Edward Triangle in Liverpool to KEIE, a subsidiary of TJ Morris and owned by billionaire Tom Morris, founder of the Home Bargains retail chain.
In March LBN exclusively reported that Peel Group, owner of the King Edward Triangle industrial estate next to Princes Dock, had agreed a deal with an investor that would see multiple residential towers built on the site.
In early April that investor was revealed as KEIE. It is partnering with Beetham, which has already developed two residential towers in Liverpool, on a plan to build a new cluster of skyscrapers on the site which is within Liverpool Waters.
This particular plot sits on the corner of Greenock Street and Waterloo Road and is the gateway to the eight-acre site. It currently houses a single-storey office and warehouse and it was originally earmarked for a 16-storey apartment scheme.
However, KEIE is now looking at plans for a 35-storey tower on the plot. And other towers in the development are likely to go even higher. Tallest tower in Liverpool is currently the 40-storey Beetham Tower just a few yards away across The Strand.
Manchester is soon to see the construction of a 76-storey residential tower. With the King Edward site earmarked for 1,200 apartments, plus commercial units, there is scope for KEIE to build the city’s tallest-ever tower.
For now, the focus is on this initial plot. Beetham founder Hugh Frost said: “It was never my desire to develop this site in isolation.
“But (it was) always my hope that it would be the catalyst for our shared ambition to transform King Edward Triangle into a scheme befitting its location.
“We’ve had a few frustrations along the way as we’ve sought to put the key pieces in place, but with TJ Morris’s investment our vision is now able to become a reality. This latest acquisition will be integral to the emerging masterplan.”
The partners confirmed that planning and design work continues behind the scenes to bring the project forward.
Dave Little, director of KEIE, added: “Our ambition is for the site to host a 35-storey tower as part of a wider cluster of high-quality tall buildings that will define this end of the development.
“The scope is there to offer the market stunning waterfront views and architecture that reinforce the development’s place as Liverpool’s prime city centre residential address.”
Hugh Frost insisted the partners were now “moving at pace”. He explained: “This will be a defining mixed-use scheme for our city and our ambition is to deliver the sort of step-change that Liverpool ONE provided.
“That’s the benchmark, and not just in terms of scale, but also urban design, place-making and economic impact.”
The partnership announced earlier in April that it had acquired the King Edward Industrial Estate from Peel following the lifting of a covenant on the site by Liverpool City Council.
Beetham Rockmount (Waterloo Road), a joint venture between Hugh Frost and Simon Kinsella, was the vendor for this latest transaction and was advised by Guy Pattison of Glenville Walker. TJ Morris’s in-house counsel advised KEIE.