Contractor appointed for 202-bed Liverpool PBSA

Blacklight Capital Partners has appointed AC1 Construction to deliver the £19m scheme, the first win for the firm’s new major projects division.

Blacklight secured planning consent for the 202-bed student scheme off Devon Street in Liverpool earlier this year after the development stalled under its previous owner YPG.

AC1 will be faced with completing the unfinished, façade-less eight to 10-storey block, which currently is only a structural shell.

Blacklight will deliver 38 more bedspaces than were originally envisaged under YPG’s plans.

Subject to Gateway 2 approval, AC1 aims to be on site next year and hand the building over in time for the September 2028 student intake.

Shane Kelly, who heads up AC1’s newly established major projects division, said: “Securing this project is a fantastic end to a challenging year, and we look forward to delivering it.

“I’m excited about the future and the value our team can bring to the market. Our self-delivery model, covering approximately 80% of all works and supported by long-standing supply chain partners, provides clients with reduced risk, improved cost control, and programme certainty.”

Proudlock Associates and Zerum are both working on the Smith Young Architects-designed scheme.

To view the application, use the planning reference number 24F/3271 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.

The scheme will be Blacklight’s third in Liverpool.

In 2022, the investor purchased Natex, a 574-apartment student accommodation scheme off Norton Street previously being developed by Mount Property Group, and rebranded it as Limelight.

Blacklight was also heavily involved in the completion of Elliot Group’s stalled 999-home Aura development by a group of the scheme’s original investors.