City’s cabinet has approved the purchase of almost 600,000 sq ft of land at Kings Dock from Homes England and will now invite expressions of interest from developers. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool City Council is buying a prime waterfront development site from public agency Homes England for just £1, paving the way for a major mixed-used development.

On Friday, the councl’s cabinet approved the purchase of almost 600,000 sq ft of land at Kings Dock, close to the ACC Liverpool arena and convention complex and will now seek expressions of interest from developers and operators.

It follows the endorsement of a 2017 Masterplan and Planning Brief for the remaining development plots on Kings Dock to be transformed into a leisure-based mixed-use destination.

The council already holds the majority of the Kings Dock estate under three 999-year leases, incorporating venues such as M&S Bank Arena, the Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel as well as several plots of vacant land.

It also includes the former waterfront car park which was demolished following a fire on New Year’s Eve two years ago.

A new £30m multi-storey car park is currently under construction at Kings Dock. Built by contractors Willmott Dixon the 1,434 space car park, to be operated by the council, is scheduled to open in summer 2020.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said: “The transformation of the Kings Dock from a car park to a major tourist and leisure attraction has been one of our great success stories and has helped to fuel the Liverpool powerhouse.

“Our iconic waterfront demands a world class offer and we have a masterplan to ensure that continues to happen at Kings Dock – so we continue to attract the biggest names in entertainment, the biggest brands in the conference sector and millions of tourists from around the world supporting thousands of jobs.”