Liverpool completes £10m acquisition of key stalled site
The city council has taken control of a 4.5-acre site on Great George Street previously earmarked for a £200m residential-led, mixed use scheme that stalled in 2017.
Liverpool City Council completed the purchase of the site out of administration on Friday after the High Court approved the sale. The authority paid for the land using £10m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and government.
Ascot Group had also been in the running to acquire the plot out of administration and has been battling it out with the city council for more than two years.
Both parties wanted to take control of the scheme and redevelop it; Liverpool City Council being keen to end the scourge of stalled sites across the city, while Ascot owns a chunk of the debt on the high-profile site.
The city council now plans to draw up options for the site’s redevelopment procure a development partner to bring a scheme forward.
A look back at previous plans for the site gives an idea of what any future development might look like, although the market has shifted significantly since the £200m New Chinatown was first proposed by North Point Global in 2015.
North Point’s plan for the site, located east of the Baltic Triangle, featured 800 homes, a 140-bedroom hotel, and 120,000 sq ft of offices.
The developer was delivering the project through its China Town Development Company SPV, later renamed The Great George Street Project.
North Point’s involvement in the project ended in 2018 when Great George Street Developments took control of the site by acquiring a shareholding in The Great George Street Project.
The most recent iteration of the 8.4-acre scheme was approved in 2020 and proposed the creation of 446 apartments across seven buildings of between two and 18 storeys, as well as a 140-bedroom hotel and more than 100,000 sq ft of offices.
The council’s purchase of the Great George Street plot is the latest step the city council has taken towards rebuilding confidence in the city – both Festival Gardens and Central Docks, which together will deliver thousands of homes, have progressed recently too after periods on pause.
Cllr 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.
“It’s 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.
Small also thanked the government and LCRCA for their roles in the acquisition and added: “I am looking forward to delivering new opportunities, homes and businesses, to create a vibrant and positive future for our historic Chinatown district.”
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “I’m really pleased to see Liverpool City Council break through the many legal hurdles that have held this important site back for far too long.
“With that cleared, we’re now in a position to crack on with bringing new homes and jobs to the area, creating genuine opportunities for local people. Along with the addition of the new Liverpool Baltic Station, this is undoubtedly one of the most exciting development projects in the country.”
Anyone else find it funny that, on its own account, Liverpool council can put a shift in and make things happen, but if anybody else comes to them with proposals, they get stuck in the mud?
By Anonymous
Obviously great news but concerned now that the latest plans will be dumped and we get more delay with new designs and arguments with planning. The opportunity is there to re densify Chinatown and bring back the bustle and trade, what is not required is the building of low-rise suburban houses of the type that has ruined Park Lane and made it look like Brookside.
By Anonymous
Hopefully now this can move forward and the site can be developed creating much needed homes and employment
By Liverpolitis
And pall mall? Or is that going well for them now?
By John
9:03 am
By Anonymous what exactly is happening in Liverpool on the councils part? Only thing I can think of is littlewoods and that’s a joint private venture that’s 5 years late.
By Anonymous
The new Council Leader certainly seems to be more effective than his predecessors, but he’s got his in tray full, the mess that’s been left. Hopefully something high-density to take advantage of the ridiculously expensive Baltic train station.
By DenseCity
Rotherham casting his shadow over everything that Liverpool try to do without offering tangible support.
By Anonymous
Well done LCC for getting this mess eventually sorted and MHCLG for funding the acquisition.
By Anonymous
@ Anon 11.22am, if you read the article properly Steve Rotheram and the LCRCA has provided financial assistance for the purchase.
Meanwhile the Baltic Station will be expensive but it`s in a cutting and partly sub surface so there will be more expense but the costs include landscaping and other surface works, and if it regenerates the area then that`s a plus, as it`s not just the Baltic that will benefit but also the residents and businesses on Park Road and Upper Parliament St.
By Anonymous
And here we go again round 300
By Anonymous
Can you just crack on with the Brock Carmichael scheme now? That was the best, and most recent option. Lets just get something good built!
By Dr Ian Buildings
Where are LCC finding the money?
Why is this not being spent on services for the city instead of my Council Tax going up 5%?
Will they be pleading poverty again next year and blaming more government cuts?
Services and Roads are abysmal, Garden Festival Site has lay empty for 20+ years with no immediate plans to start developing, and they have just wasted £000k’s pursuing a £12.5k bill which the judge was damning, in it was a waste of taxpayers money.
Does this mean that they are going to have this site lay empty for umpteen number of years while they come up with a ‘plan’?
By TaxPayer
Re comment about Rotherham casting a shadow but not helping, actually if you read the article the combined authority is putting in most of the funding. A good opportunity for mid hight homes with some green space . So good progress in china town , but agree with remarks about pall mall , other local authorities seem to be able to pump prime office development but not Liverpool ?
By George
£10m really does not look like good value because there is no way the council will grant the same density of accommodation in future.
By Mike
I hope the chimney sweeps, bottle washers and wheel tappers insist that the new develoment has bicycle lanes. Perhaps they could be subterranean to connect to the proposed underground Strand proposed development. In that way The Chinatown precinct could collect to the nascent Everton stadium..
By Anonymous
Great news for Chinatown and the Baltic Triangle! Will support the growing economy and should reinforce the good developments at Parliament Square and Central Park but perhaps with some more business space for co-working. The bungalows by the way are a relic of the 1980s not of the present day, and there’s actually not that many of them.
By Paul Blackburne
£10 million for a site that the council could quite conceivably only end up building bungalows on (re their tall buildings policy) seems mightily excessive. More plans and more consultations and even in ten years time I doubt very much if a spade or a digger will be on site to get any form of scheme up and running such is the council’s reputation for making things happen!
By Brendan R
Ignore the comments, this is clearly a good news story for the city. One site for the soon to be formed Regeneration Partnership in the city to get their teeth into.
By Anonymous
First of all.well done for overcoming the many legal hurdles and I would like to add that the residential development be focused on the creation of a new neighbourhood consisting of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses 🏡 and with a lot of Chinese retail and restaurants for helping with its identity as Europes very first China town. The 800 homes which I propose to be built for employed residents that are largely of Chinese descent 70% of the homes being prioritised for them would help to reinforce the identity of the new China town and the other developments should also include the core components of a traditional China town.
This a great opportunity for the Liverpool city council leaders to create a new China town which mirrors a traditional China town and is a perfect place for the cities thousands of Chinese residents to call home 🏡
By Joe Cous
@ Joe 11.42am , the last thing we need round this area is more 3 and 4 bed houses. I suppose you are aware of the suburban dross that was built in Pitt St, Cornwallis St etc that replaced good tenements and period housing. That is what the locals wanted and the Council at the time obliged , scandalous.
High density is needed round here with , yes, some family flats but in order for Chinatown to revitalise it needs a massive population boost with plenty of apartments , do that and the shops and businesses will follow.
By Anonymous