TEN TOP LIVERPOOL CITY REGION DEVELOPMENTS
The real challenge, when it comes to choosing Liverpool City Region’s ‘top ten’ developments is narrowing it down to just ten. What do you base it on? Size? Value? Jobs created? Most exciting? Liverpool City Region is bursting with globally significant investment opportunities right now, worth more than a cool £20 billion combined.
As we head towards MIPIM Cannes 2020 – The world’s premier property and Investment event – we’ve rounded-up ten developments that are certainly among the best, but by no means the only game in town. For a more comprehensive list, read our full property opportunities brochure HERE. For a selection of our current favourites, read on.
LIVERPOOL WATERS
Let’s start with a real high-flyer. Five new neighbourhoods. An iconic waterfront. 60 hectares of historic dockland. #Liverpool City Region’s #Liverpool Waters development is reshaping the UK’s North West.
The project will transform the city’s northern docks, creating a world-class, mixed-use waterfront quarter in central Liverpool. Together with Wirral Waters on the West bank of the Mersey, the project is poised to significantly benefit the structure and economy of Liverpool City Region.
Liverpool Waters will transform the city centre and North Liverpool, providing much needed opportunities for jobs, training and skills development. Infrastructure improvements will allow easy access between Liverpool Waters and the city centre, ensuring it is strongly connected with the existing waterfront.
The gravity of adding Liverpool Waters to the city’s existing waterfront offer will see Liverpool competing with the likes of Hamburg, Boston, Toronto and Barcelona in terms of the scale and diversity of its waterfront offer and associated economy.
The approval of Liverpool’s bid to become a turnaround point for international cruise liners is the next chapter in the close relationship between public and private sector partners working together to deliver a seamless integration of waterfront assets to continue the city’s remarkable transformation.
Visit https://liverpoolwaters.co.uk/
WIRRAL WATERS
Not to be outdone, the aforementioned Liverpool City Region’s Wirral Waters is the UK’s largest development project, transforming 500 acres of Birkenhead dockland into six beautiful neighbourhoods; MEA Park, Northbank, Sky City, Four Bridges, Vittoria Studios and Marina View.
Further bolstering the development, Wirral Waters forms part of the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone, a designation provided by Central Government to stimulate jobs and growth. Enterprise Zones are key economic growth tools for this administration, and the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone seeks to utilise the River Mersey and its water assets to stimulate growth. Wirral Waters was one of the first of four Enterprise Zones to be announced in the UK. Liverpool Waters, on the opposite banks of the River Mersey, is also included within the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone.
Businesses in the Enterprise Zone will benefit from the scheme thanks to a number of tools, including help with the provision of superfast broadband, simplified and improved planning regimes, Enhanced Capital Allowances and up to five years of business rate discounts.
Wirral Waters is working with various Government departments including BEIS, DCLG and HCA and has had approval from several key politicians and Ministers. Wirral Waters needs to be a priority project for Wirral Council, the Liverpool LEP and Central Government in order to maximise its potential.
With true collaborative working, the potential is to create over 20,000 permanent jobs in The Wirral.
UPPER CENTRAL
Liverpool’s Upper Central development is a top-class investment opportunity. Featuring a new, £2 billion international gateway development plan, covering 56 acres of prime real estate, in the heart of Liverpool City Centre, Upper Central will deliver an enviable location for business.
A newly branded area of Liverpool, with potential to create 2.5million sq ft of new development space creating an estimated 7,000 jobs over the coming decade. Upper Central is currently the subject of a draft masterplan, with Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet recently approving a public consultation which will deliver a draft Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF) to help shape the future direction of the area.
Running from Central Station to Liverpool Science Park and Lime Street to Bold Street, Upper Central is seen as key to the future development of the city’s blossoming Knowledge Quarter (KQ Liverpool).
PADDINGTON VILLAGE
Liverpool City Region is already a world-leading science, tech, health & education destination & our £1 billion Paddington Village development is set to take things even further.
The flagship expansion site sits at the eastern gateway to the City Centre is part of the local authority’s vision to cement the city region as an international destination of significance for the life-science, healthcare and technology industries.
The site has been earmarked as 1.8m sq ft of science, technology, education and health space and is being developed in three phases: Paddington Central, Paddington South and Paddington North, with phase one already underway.
At 30 acres, Paddington is a sizeable urban village, inspired by the sense of community you’d find in the likes of Greenwich Village in New York.
Not only will it be a great place to live but a great place to work, discover and socialise, with state-of-the-art workspace, labs, cafés, restaurants, shops, accommodation, a hotel and teaching, examination and events space.
SCI-TECH DARESBURY
Liverpool City Region’s international science and innovation campus, Sci-Tech Daresbury plans to develop 1 million sq ft of space, creating up to 10,000 jobs.
Established in 2006, Sci-Tech Daresbury is ideally located in the Liverpool City Region between Runcorn, Warrington, Manchester and Liverpool.
In 2010 a joint-venture (JV) company was formed with exciting plans for further expansion of the site. Partners in the JV company are developers Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and Halton Borough Council. Since then the JV has delivered on its plans for growth, new buildings and world-class facilities, a life-long home for successful businesses.
Sci-Tech Daresbury is internationally recognised through the reputation of the STFC Daresbury Laboratory and Hartree Centre in leading-edge research and development, and the successful establishment of its open innovation model.
Currently there are over 1,300 people on site, including world class scientists working in a variety of scientific fields including accelerator science, high performance computing, simulation and data analytics and sensors and detectors.
It operates large-scale facilities used by many UK universities as well as an increasing number of industrial companies (e.g. IBM, Unilever, Bentley Motors, BAe Systems). Sci-Tech Daresbury is home to nearly 150 high-tech companies in areas such as advanced engineering, digital/ICT, biomedical and energy and environmental technologies.
These vary from start-up companies to more mature SMEs to international corporates such as IBM and Atos. One in six companies have their headquarters outside the UK. All these companies are catered for with a mix of flexible high-quality office, laboratory and technical space.
PALL MALL
Liverpool City Region’s £200 million Pall Mall development will further grow our city’s commercial district, enhancing grade A office space & creating a new business community.
The scheme will help meet demand for high spec office accommodation which was highlighted in the city centre’s 15 year blueprint, the Strategic Investment Framework.
Pall Mall’s site will also connect to St Paul’s Square, which underwent a £120 million development in 2011 and is now home to major companies such as Atos, DWF, Hill Dickinson, US Airways, Bosch, Investec, Maersk, Santander and Weightmans.
The plot, which is part public realm and part car park, was previously home to part of the historic Exchange Street train station which opened in 1850 but closed in 1977 when the Merseyrail underground was completed.
Liverpool City Region’s Kier Property and CTP Limited, recently won the tender to redevelop Pall Mall Exchange providing up to 400,000 sq ft of Grade A+ office space over three new buildings.
The city council, which is to develop a masterplan to expand the Commercial District, is also exploring with Kier how they can collaborate with the new owner of the adjoining 3 hectare site used for car parking, to create a second phase of development that could deliver an additional mixed-use scheme including a hotel, new car park, leisure uses and up to 2,000 new apartments.
In total it is estimated a scheme for the entire 4.2 hectare site would be worth £200 million and create in excess of 1,000 jobs.
LIVERPOOL HEALTH CAMPUS
Liverpool Health Campus presents a £100 million investment opportunity, enhanced by its location, close to University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Royal Liverpool Hospital and Liverpool Science Park.
The Health Campus provides for a concentration and co-location of research, industry and healthcare provision collaborating in health related research and clinical trials, enabling Liverpool to become a centre of global excellence in biomedical sciences.
The Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest university teaching hospitals in the North West of England. It is comprised of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, the Liverpool University Dental Hospital and Broadgreen Hospital.
As a centre of excellence for research, development and innovation, the Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust has long standing partnerships with the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
NEW EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB STADIUM
Everton’s plans for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and a community-led legacy project at Goodison Park has been described as a ‘missing piece in the jigsaw’ of Liverpool City Region’s incredible resurgence.
Everton’s new £500 million, 52,000-seater stadium will make a major contribution to the city’s world-famous waterfront. It is estimated that The People’s Project – the combination of Everton’s planned new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and the delivery of a community-led legacy at Goodison Park – will deliver nearly £800m of societal value over a 10-year period.
EFC has recently appointed construction giant Laing O’Rourke as its preferred contractor to deliver the new stadium. Both parties will now work in partnership to develop a detailed design and delivery programme. It will fully utilise Laing O’Rourke’s digital engineering expertise and industry-leading knowledge of modern methods of construction.
In December 2019, Everton revealed its final stadium designs ahead of the submission of a detailed planning application, which is expected to be decided on by Liverpool City Council in the summer of 2020.
Work on the new stadium is expected to start later this year, subject to planning consent, and is expected to take three years and is planned to open in time for the 2023/24 Premier League season. A final construction timeline will be shared during the PCSA period.
At the heart of Everton’s proposals is a brick, steel and glass stadium design which takes its inspiration from the historic maritime and warehouse buildings nearby.
Designed by MEIS architects, the stadium structure combines the historic and modern, with the brick base incorporating a subtle nod to Goodison Park’s famous Archibald Leitch lattice work, while the dynamic roof structure is made from steel and glass giving the stadium a modern finish.
The proposed waterfront stadium, at Bramley Moore Dock within the wider £5bn Liverpool Waters scheme, comprises of four distinctive stands, including a large, steep ‘home end’ which will house 13,000 passionate Evertonians.
These changes, along with redevelopment plans as Goodison Park, will reverberate throughout Liverpool City Region, reaching beyond football and into many of the city’s communities. The People’s Project will bring new opportunities, raise aspirations and create new legacies. It will deliver an incredible boost to the local economy, creating new jobs and delivering meaningful and lasting change to both local communities and the international profile of the city.
For more information and regular updates visit https://www.peoples-project.co.uk/
FESTIVAL GARDENS DEVELOPMENT
Liverpool City Region’s 47 acre ‘Festival Gardens’ opportunity will create a new waterside residential community, presenting an exciting investment opportunity, up to the value of £400 million. As of this month, Vinci Construction is being lined up to deliver the remediation of Festival Gardens in Liverpool, according to a report due to be discussed by the council this week.
A planning application for the remediation of the 28-acre development zone is expected to be considered in March, and is the first phase of work required to deliver up to 1,500 homes on the former landfill.
At a cabinet meeting this Friday, Liverpool City Council is due to accept £150,000 of SIF money from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to go towards the clean-up phase.
In February 2019, Homes England revealed it would provide a grant of £9.9m to facilitate the development. As part of the terms of the grant, the money needs to be drawn down by 2021.
Developers Ion and Midia, working with architecture practices BDP and AHR, are bringing forward the scheme, having been named as preferred partners last year. Previously, K2 Architects worked up a masterplan for the council, detailing 2,500 homes, 500,000 sq ft of commercial and leisure space, and a waterpark.
Vinci, Arup and Kier Business Services were appointed to work on pre-remediation material trials and site preparation at the end of last year. The ongoing trials are processing 1,000 cubic meters of material, analysing the soil to see if Festival Gardens can be used as a pilot project to demonstrate an innovative approach to waste processing and protecting groundwater.
Pending planning permissions, the first homes could be available by 2022.
WOODSIDE WATERFRONT
With a potential development value of up to £300 million, Liverpool City Region’s Woodside Waterfront is one of our most exciting residential, leisure and commercial developments.
Spread across 30 acres of Wirral’s waterfront, Woodside Waterfront offers one of the greatest civic views in the UK – that of the Liverpool Waterfront.
Located on the opposite bank of the River Mersey to Liverpool’s iconic skyline, the Woodside area has massive redevelopment potential. A masterplan for this strategic gateway site will help shape and support a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve a landmark, private sector led mixed use development, which will help drive the regeneration of the left bank of the River Mersey.
With unparalleled transport connectivity – ferries, rail, tram, bus and road – the Woodside masterplan envisages a highly sustainable mixed use approach to transformational regeneration.
A true waterfront project of international scale that helps reconnect the River Mersey, the Grade 1 listed Hamilton Square with central Birkenhead and Wirral Waters. Uses will include high density residential accommodation, new leisure uses, hotels, cultural buildings and office uses planned around a series of public and green spaces and enhanced public realm.
The partners and landowners bringing the masterplan and planning together include Wirral Council, Peel L&P and Boom Developments. The development offer will include a significant number of new, high density homes, an upper and mid-market hotel, waterfront office accommodation and managed workspace and with leisure destinations including restaurants & bars.
IN CLOSING
This selection of Liverpool City Region developments, along with many others like them, prove that Liverpool City Region is evolving at an incredible speed; exploring new opportunities, developing new neighbourhoods and creating new business communities. We’re a city region on the rise and forever moving forward and this is the message we take to MIPIM Cannes.
For more information on investment opportunities in Liverpool City Region contact:
Alice Lamb
Head of Investment Services
Growth Platform
Email: Alice.lamb@growthplatform.org
Tel: +44(0)151 237 3919
