Bruntwood gets go-ahead for Liverpool Plaza eatery

The city council has approved an application to convert 7,700 sq ft of ground floor space at the Old Hall Street building into a restaurant, and repurpose unused space on the third floor into offices. 

The ground floor of the 385,000 sq ft office block is currently occupied by WHSmith and, while the developer has yet to name the future restaurant occupier, it is understood to be an established local independent operator. 

The planned work on the third floor of the building will provide 2,800 sq ft of office space.

The scheme “aims to build upon previous interventions to adapt the building so that it continues to meet the expectations of modern high-quality office occupiers in 2020 and beyond,” planning consultancy Paul Butler Associates noted in the application documents. 

Other planned alterations include external refurbishment of the St Paul’s Street entrance, refurbishment of the canopy, and tweaks to the floor space.

MGMA Studio Architecture designed the plans, while Phaus is working on internal designs for the ground floor restaurant and Artin is the lighting consultant.  

Existing tenants in the Plaza include Arup and PR agency Influential. 

Bruntwood bought the 18-storey building, previously known as the Sir John Moores Building, in 2003 for £24.5m. After carrying out an extensive refurbishment, the developer put the building on the market in 2016 with an asking price believed to be around £57.5m. 

The 12,000 sq ft refurb concerned the building’s sixth floor and was carried out by Bruntwood Works at the end of 2019. 

That refurbishment was part of the company’s £50m investment to modernise its portfolio. Other such projects included Bruntwood Works schemes at [pin url=”https://explore.deetu.com/pnw/#111-piccadilly”][/pin]111 Piccadilly and [pin url=”https://explore.deetu.com/pnw/#blackfriars-house”][/pin]Blackfriars House in Manchester.