Liverpool looks to kick on at Great George Street
The city council has appointed CBRE as it looks to take the recently acquired, long-problematic site to market for a mixed-use regeneration scheme.
Following a competitive tender process launched at the end of March, the global advisory firm has been chosen by LCC to “provide professional support in developing a business case to define the optimum vision and route to market”.
CBRE has teamed up with Liverpool-based architect Brock Carmichael to work on the design element of the business case, and will undertake early market and community engagement to inform the proposals.
Great George Street is a 4.55-acre brownfield plot which lies within Liverpool’s historic Chinatown and close to the Baltic Triangle district, adjacent to Liverpool Cathedral, making it a critical gateway plot.
Development has been stalled since 2017, subject to a series of complex legal challenges.
In a step forward to unlock development, the council succeeded in the High Court last November to secure the site under its own unified ownership, as the freeholder of the site, clearing the way for development.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) supported the Council’s approach, with an allocation of £10m funding to complete the purchase and bring forward development options.
LCC said that the legal ratification demonstrates its commitment to address a legacy of stalled development sites across the city, following its successful exit from statutory government intervention.
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.
“Its 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.
“I’d like to thank LCRCA and the government for their support in this process. I am looking forward to delivering new opportunities, homes and businesses, to create a vibrant and positive future for our historic Chinatown district.”
CBRE senior director, Andrew Playfer, added: “CBRE is delighted to have been instructed by Liverpool City Council to provide consultancy advice on this high-profile opportunity and to play our part in shaping a vibrant and sustainable future for this key area of Liverpool.”
Glad the ownership of the land is sorted and that things are moving ahead, but I sense a drawn out process here and repetitions of Festival Gardens, Kings Dock, etc.
This site needs multi-storey buildings and enable a big boost in populating this area in order to revitalise Chinatown. Of course whatever the designs the whole thing has to get by Liverpool’s notorious planning processes which are very slow and ponderous,and you only have to consider the queue of projects waiting to get on site to understand that.
We live in hope.
By Anonymous