Due for completion later this year, the 25,000 sq ft Hythe office building in Wirral Waters was ‘topped out’ this week and potential occupiers are now being asked to come forward. Tony McDonough reports

Work on a new 25,000 sq ft business hub at Wirral Waters has reached a major milestone with the building now ‘topped out’.

Guests including main funders Wirral Council, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and Merseyside Pension Fund attended the topping out ceremony, to celebrate the building reaching its highest point.

Being backed with £8.5m from Merseyside Pension Fund, Peel L&P’s Hythe, designed by architects, Glenn Howells, will offer 25,000 sq ft of grade A office space and will be the first speculative office development in Birkenhead for more than a decade.

With a chronic shortage of grade A space in Liverpool city centre’s traditional commercial core, other locations such as Birkenhead and now offering companies a cost-effective alternative. Wirral Council is also looking to create another 58,000 sq ft of grade A space in the centre of Birkenhead.

Hythe is located in the Four Bridges neighbourhood at Wirral Waters. Nearby work is also under way on the construction of 30 modular homes in a joint venture between Wirral Waters owner Peel L&P and Urban Splash.

Being constructed by GMI Construction, Hythe is scheduled for completion in late 2021. Its accommodation is available across three floors and will offer flexible office space for entrepreneurs and local businesses. It has been designed to maximise the health and wellbeing of workers.

Lettings are now available for businesses wanting to relocate to Hythe. Business should contact lettings agents Matthews & Goodman and Avison Young for further details. The deal to fund the development was brokered by CBRE Capital Advisors.

Speaking at the topping our event, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, said: “We’ve invested £3m in the Hythe site to ensure that we’re able to keep offering outstanding facilities and as a catalyst to attract new businesses and jobs to the area. It’s great to see that investment starting to physically take shape.

“Not only will these new facilities offer some of the most advanced office space in the area, they will also be some of the greenest and most sustainable. I’m sure they’ll help make our region a more attractive place for jobs and investment.”

Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Wirral Waters at Peel L&P, added: “With completion on track for late 2021, Wirral Waters is now firmly in the delivery phase with many more key milestones to follow in the coming months.”