Council publishes £75m Pall Mall OJEU notice
The public sector’s latest attempt to attract a developer to a large office development plot on the edge of Liverpool city centre has officially begun, with an invitation to tender issued through the Official Journal of the European Union.
The appointed developer would get the chance to build up to 400,000 sq ft of offices on a three-acre site between Tithebarn Street and Leeds Street. The site is next to the Exchange Station and St Paul’s Square office developments.
Developers have been reluctant to embark on major new office schemes in the city in recent years after a run of poor take-up, although agents argue demand has picked up and would be spurred on by new supply.
The city council acquired the Pall Mall plot from the Homes & Communities Agency earlier this year. The HCA and economic development agency Liverpool Vision have run development contests before for Pall Mall and marketed it internationally at MIPIM. An extensive framework for the area was published in 2005 and updated in the 2012 Liverpool Strategic Investment Framework, but to date a developer has yet to be appointed.
The city council said it will also explore with the preferred development partner how the adjoining surface car park operated by NCP on seven acres could be brought forward for a complementary mixed-use scheme including a hotel and apartments.
St Paul’s Square was developed in the last regeneration cycle and is now home to major companies such as Atos, DWF, Hill Dickinson, US Airways, Bosch, Investec, Maersk, Santander and Weightmans, but has never been fully occupied.
The city council envisages delivery of the £75m Pall Mall office element on its own site by the end of March 2019.
Mayor Joe Anderson commented: “As a growing city, it is vital we have the right office space available in the right place and Pall Mall is part of a natural expansion of the commercial district.”
JLL is advising Liverpool City Council.
The deadline for expressions of interest is midday on 17 October.