Development plans for offices and 631 homes on Great George Street were put on hold as council resolved legal challenges
Liverpool City Council has acquired a major stalled development site in the city centre after its previous owner entered administration.
The 4.55-acre brownfield plot on Great George Street sits at the gateway to the city’s historic Chinatown area, close to the Baltic Triangle district and adjacent to Liverpool Cathedral.
Its development came to a halt in 2017 due to legal challenges concerning leaseholds, which the council has since resolved.
The developer-contractor that owned the site, The Great George Street Project Limited, entered administration in February 2022. It had £170m plans for office space and 631 homes on Great George Street as well as restaurants in Chinatown.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) put in £10m funding to support the purchase, which was approved by the High Court on November 15 and finalised on November 29.
Development plans will focus on catalysing regeneration in the wider Chinatown area.
This acquisition is the latest in a string of brownfield investment deals in Liverpool. In October, the council announced it is searching for developers for its Festival Gardens site, which cost £60m to clean up. Meanwhile, Homes England invested £56m in Liverpool Waters’ housing regeneration project last month.
The Great George Street site is also closely linked to plans being realised in the neighbouring Baltic Triangle district, with the new Liverpool Baltic Station due to open in 2027 after having secured £96m of funding from the LCRCA.
Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for growth and economy, said: “The acquisition of the stalled Great George Street development is a hugely significant step in resetting the story of this major gateway site.
“Its proximity to the Baltic Triangle, which is undergoing huge change with plans afoot to radically upgrade the transport infrastructure there, means the future development of the Great George Street site is of critical importance to the City.”
No comments yet