Legacie, Nexus nudge £100m Liverpool resi towards a start
Having taken control of the stalled Soapworks site in 2024, the developers are now seeking to amend the 381-home scheme’s design so that work can begin.
Legacie and Nexus have applied to Liverpool City Council for permission to make a series of changes to the £100m development, located off Edgar Street in the city’s Pumpfields district, ahead of a Gateway 2 submission to the Building Safety Regulator.
The design tweaks do not impact the height of the scheme – up to 19 storeys – nor the number of units. They are related to changes in building safety regulations that have come in since the plans were first lodged by Vinco Group and Nived Realty in 2016.
A planning statement prepared by Savills states that the changes are designed to make the project “safer, more durable, and buildable”.
“Without the changes the development will not be able to be progressed,” according to Savills.
Soapworks, designed by Falconer Chester Hall and comprising three blocks rising to 19 storeys, will be built by Legacie’s construction arm and provide a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes across multiple residential buildings.
It will also feature a gym, spa, coffee shop, and dedicated relaxation zones.
Previously known as the Tannery, the £100m GDV Soapworks is located off Bevington Bush next door to another Legacie scheme, the 664-home Gateway, another failed Vinco project the prolific Liverpool developer picked up in partnership with Nexus Residential last year.
Legacie has developed a track record for acquiring stalled schemes.
Since 2020, the developer has bought Primesite’s The Rise on the corner of Low Hill Street and West Derby Street plus two former Elliot Group projects; Heaps Mill in Liverpool and Embankment Exchange in Salford.
More recently, Legacie and Nexus teamed up to acquire a stalled 140-home development in Salford.
Looks a really good development but would be ideal for a 30 storey tower in this area. Even if the developer pushed for another 5 or 6 storeys it would be much better.
Still a really good scheme though. Just hope we see it rise very soon.
By Anonymous
Its good news to see this getting some traction as that site needs urgently developing, however I think the tower element should push for 30 storeys to make it a proper city centre gateway and provided more homes and jobs. The design could do with a tweak, as I’m not convinced the chequerboard cladding will age well, simple but high quality light coloured materials light with floor to window ceilings always work well.
By GetItBuilt!
No house building in our pleasant surroundings. Why do you think our house prices stay high and keep rising. Let that sort live in the cities, well away from us. Not wanted here!
By Anonymous
As per previous comments about height, obviously something taller would be better but given the amount of time things take in Liverpool to get through planning then I’ll settle for the current plan. In addition how long will it take to receive Gateway2 approval, at least a year maybe.
By Anonymous
I agree with other comments to push for a tower in this area.
By Towerneeded
@ Anon 1.37pm, so let’s stay the way we are in our little suburban semis in the middle of a big city that will never achieve growth without ambition and vision. When you don’t change things remain the same, a failing city that will stagnate further and bright, young people leave, moving elsewhere to get a better life in a buzzing city that is business friendly and takes architectural risks.
By Anonymous
I really like this development and I think it will be an impressive way of greeting people as they exit the Wallasey tunnel from the Wirral. It will also provide a great ‘bookend’ to the Leeds Street corridor once the KEIE/Davos development gets going. All we need now is to see some action on the Infinity site and then the Leeds Street corridor/Pumpfields corridor would be seen to be really moving on a pace. Good luck to Legacie and Nexus and lets get the diggers on the ground as soon as possible.
By Brendan R
We have a housing crisis in Liverpool with not enough affordable/social housing being built and a massive demand – just watch https://lar.liverpool.gov.uk/planning/index.html?fa=getReceivedWeeklyList to see how many HMO applications there are. Just building tower blocks – especially those bigger than deemed suitable by the Tall Buildings SPD – simply creates more empty housing stock. Assuming that the conditions from application 16F/3078 still apply this at least offers a car parking space for 15% of apartments – probably making apartments more sellable than some more recent applications.
By Concerned WaterfrontNorth
Lets hope they keep to the original renders and not some colourless bland scheme, come on legacie show some individuality
By Liverpolitis
No doubt another Liverpool scheme where affordable provision is deemed unviable. Meanwhile thousands continue to live in expensive and sub standard HMOs.
By Anonymous
@ Concerned 9.48pm , building tall does not affect houses being built, we have lots of land in Liverpool to build proper inner city town houses. Take a drive along Edge Lane, Scotland Rd, Stanley Rd, there’s lots of plots available to build, meanwhile the city council has identified over 9000 empty properties in the city in need of refurb.
Our height restrictions on buildings in Liverpool are ludicrous and most other major cities in Britain allow talls eg Leeds. Cardiff,Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham. etc
By Anonymous
How many times must we point out to your esteemed editor that the area is called Vauxhall, not Pumpfields? That’s V-A-U-X-H-A-L-L.
By St Domingo
We should have a proper assessment about viability – does making a building taller tip the calculations so that a developer doesn’t have to make any payments for affordable homes!
By Anonymous