Global shipping giant Hapag Lloyd agrees 10-year lease on new office in Liverpool city centre. Tony McDonough reports

Global shipping firm Hapag Lloyd has agreed a 10-year deal to take 8,858 sq ft of office space in Liverpool’s commercial district.

Headquartered in Germany, Hapag Lloyd operates a fleet of more than 260 container vessels. It will relocate its team from its current Liverpool home at No 1 Tithebarn Street to 1 St Paul’s Square in April.

This latest letting follows a raft of recent deals at 1 St Paul’s Square including 16,694 sq ft letting to Direct Line Group, a 16,933 sq ft deal with Keoghs Solicitors and the renewal of 46,922 sq ft with law firm Hill Dickinson, totalling 89,677 sq ft of transactions.

Jonathan Baucher, director at B1 Real Estate who represented Hapag Lloyd, said: “After an extensive market search, the recent repositioning works carried out at 1 St Paul’s Square coupled with the building’s location and flexibility and efficiency of the floorplate created a real appeal to the business.

“The Hapag Lloyd business in Liverpool is extremely well established and this move is well aligned to its requirements.”

An eight-storey building, 1 St Paul’s Square offers 131,247 sq ft of the newest office space in the city’s commercial district. It was even a major upgrade in 2023 which included a new reception, breakout areas, cycle storage, lockers, showers and new WCs.

These redevelopment works were undertaken by English Cities Fund. The wider St Paul’s Square is home to a significant number of the city’s principle law firms.

These include Hill Dickinson, Weightmans and DWF, together with a host of financial and professional services occupiers including Santander, Marsh/Mercer, Investec and US Airways.

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Neil Kirkham, senior director and head of CBRE’s Liverpool office, agenst for the building, added: “We are delighted to conclude this deal with one of the world’s top five shipping companies.

“The refurbishment at 1 St Paul’s Square has been delivered to the highest standards and that quality provision has been substantiated by this spate of new lettings.

“There remains just 31,000 sq ft available office space over ground, first and second floors, with the ground floor offering opportunities for a variety of uses, such as retail, bar or restaurant, with suites from circa 2,000 to 8,500 sq ft.”