Event Summary
Liverpool Development Update | Summary, slides + photos
There are currently £1.45bn of developments on site across Liverpool, with the council predicting that next year the city will hit the same construction peak as in 2008, according to a presentation at Place North West’s Liverpool Development Update.
See below for slides + photos
The event at the Foundation for Art & Creative Technoloy was sponsored by Curtins, Lambert Smith Hampton, Kingsley and Pegasus Group. An audience of 140 was given an overview of a variety of projects under construction, as well as an update on the £10.5bn development pipeline, progress at the Knowledge Quarter, and the city’s thriving hotel market.
According to Mark Kitts, assistant director of regeneration at Liverpool City Council, projects on site and due to complete by 2019 total £1.45bn in development value, with £822m in the city centre and £635m in the surrounding neighbourhoods. A large proportion of this is housing, accounting for £537m, and then student accommodation, at £248m.
Also speaking at the event was Oliver Delucia-Crook, business development director at Curtins; Hugh Anderson, director of hotel agency at Lambert Smith Hampton; and Colin Sinclair, chief executive of the Knowledge Quarter. Phil Mayall, development director at Muse Developments, joined for a panel debate.
Overview of the city
Curtins’ Delucia-Crook presented on how Liverpool had changed during his 20 years in the city, from the redevelopment of Albert Dock, to recent investment from international funds such as Moorfield, Hermes and Mercer. From an opinion poll conducted for the event, he revealed the following:
- Liverpool development sector most active in student accommodation, residential and education projects
- Healthcare has few projects, but of a very large size
- Student accommodation has room to grow, as will retail despite dominance of Liverpool ONE
- Education and knowledge-based schemes expected to make up bulk of pipeline
- Main challenges are skills shortages, plant availability, and lack of commercial space
Key projects
Kitts went through a list of Liverpool City Council’s 15 key sites, some of which have direct council involvement as development partner or landowner. Highlights include:
- Pall Mall, a £200m office-led project currently out to tender for a developer. Kitts said eight bids had been received so far, and while a commercial anchor was essential, the council was open to flexibility around use
- At King’s Dock, the council is in the process of buying the land from the Homes & Communities Agency, with a view to developing a £50m hotel, leisure, and residential scheme
- A masterplan is being produced for the £100m Ten Streets, a mixed-use zone connecting the city centre to Stanley Dock
- At the long-awaited £150m redevelopment of Cains Brewery, a deal is due to be announced in coming months to move the project forward
Hotels
Anderson from Lambert Smith Hampton explored Liverpool’s expanding hotel sector. Between 2012 and 2016 Liverpool saw 26 new hotels totalling 1,946 rooms.
- Of new hotels, 39% were budget hotels, 44% were four star, and 12% aparthotel
- Pipeline shows potential for 50 hotels totalling 3,700 bedrooms, but expect market forces to impact on delivery
- Having a branded operator still key to securing development and funding
- In the next two years, new hotels to open include Principal Hotel at Martins Building, StayCity Aparthotels and EasyHotel
Knowledge Quarter
Colin Sinclair updated the audience on progress at the £1bn life science innovation district planned for the east of the city:
- Paddington Place, a 30-storey landmark building, will be in the first phase, due to be occupied by the Royal College of Physicians
- Area has one of Europe’s largest concentrations of hospitals, including large-scale developments such as the new Royal Liverpool Hospital
- New projects such as £64m Materials Innovation Factory on site, already bidding for funds for second centre
- Recent topping out for Health & Life Sciences Accelerator, due to open in June 2017
Offices
No4 St Paul’s Square was the last office to be built in Liverpool, completed by Muse Developments in 2011. Muse’s Mayall led the panel discussion on the state of the commercial market and lack of space in the city that’s fit for purpose.
- Mayall stressed that new stock is essential to attracting significant inward investment
- While No4 St Paul’s was speculative and local authority funded, it is 100% private sector occupied
- According to Kitts, Liverpool “has lots of office space, but it’s awful”, with listed buildings in the city just not at the right standard for new occupiers
- Council figures show offices make up just £29m of the £1.45bn development pipeline to 2019
- Anderson pointed out that by some criteria, as No4 St Paul’s is more than five years’ old it would no longer count as Grade A, leaving Liverpool without any prime stock
To view the presentations from the event on SlideShare, click here
Click any image below to launch gallery
- Oliver Delucia-Crook from Curtins gave the opening presentation
- Hugh Anderson of Lambert Smith Hampton gave an overview of the hotel market
- Mark Kitts from Liverpool City Council detailed a series of priority projects
- Colin Sinclair, chief executive of the Knowledge Quarter, talked about progress in the four months since his appointment
- The panel, from left: Kitts, Delucia-Crook, Anderson, Sinclair, and Phil Mayall from Muse Developments
- Paul Unger, Place North West editor, takes questions from the floor
- From left: Kitts, Delucia-Crook, and Anderson
- Colin Sinclair from Knowledge Quarter
