First image of proposed Liverpool waterfront skyscraper cluster, backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris, is revealed with tallest tower set to exceed 50 storeys. Tony McDonough reports
Developer Hugh Frost aims to build a 50-storey residential skyscraper close to Liverpool waterfront – higher than anything the city has ever seen.
Backed by Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris, Hugh Frost’s via Beetham and KEIE aims to build a cluster of towers on what is currently the King Edward Industrial Estate.
Located next to Princes Dock in Liverpool Waters, the development would comprise around 10 buildings with a total of 1,200 apartments.
Hugh, who was behind the nearby Beetham Tower and West Tower in the early 2000s, told the Liverpool Developer Forum on Thursday that talks with the city council over the scheme were developing well.
No tower built in Liverpool so far has exceeded 40 storeys so this planned structure would dominate the skyline and waterfront. LBN exclusively revealed their plans for the site early in 2024.
In August 2024 it was revealed the developers had acquired a further plot on the edge of the site, an engineering works. This would take the total area to 5.7 acres which sits inside Peel Group’s Liverpool Waters scheme.
KEIE and Beetham have appointed architects Brock Carmichael and planning consultancy Pegasus Group to draw up a masterplan for the site.
Speaking in September Darren Muir, director of Pegasus Group’s Liverpool office, said: “The overall project will deliver a step-change in how the north end of the city centre looks and functions.”
Later on Wednesday KEIE and Beetham confirmed their intention to submit a planning application for a “pathfinder” development on the north west boundary of their seven-acre King Edward site.
The submission, for a 26-storey tower, is on the site of a former Greek restaurant on Regent Road. Hugh Frost said it will provide a marker for the whole development.
“We’re putting down a marker in terms of our aspirations and design standards,” he said. “Discussions with Liverpool council have been very constructive and we’re looking forward to revealing more in due course.”
He added that work ‘continues apace’ on the development’s wider masterplan, being drawn up by Liverpool architects Brock Carmichael.
“Our target is to submit a hybrid application by the third or fourth quarter this year, seeking outline consent for the masterplan, and detailed consent for some further buildings.”
On Wednesday the city council began an eight-week consultation to ask residents and businesses to contribute to a new vision that it hopes will transform Liverpool’s economic prospects over the next 15 years.
