Liverpool ready to take lead as ‘retrofit city’
Liverpool must present a clear investment strategy to the world to achieve its development potential, a roundtable debate heard during Labour party conference this week.
The debate was organised by shedkm architects, Planit landscape architects, communications agency Somewhere; and civil, structural and transport engineer Civic Engineers.
Sophie Bevan, director of regeneration at Liverpool City Council, said the council was keener than ever to enable and guide development, mentioning upcoming projects such as the next phases of Festival Gardens and King’s Dock.
Earlier this month, the council agreed terms to buy the stalled New Chinatown site from administrators, subject to court clearance.
The new leadership at Liverpool City Council has been received positively by the development community, and the city is in recovery mode after a difficult few years that saw government commissioners taking over temporarily.
Positive change at the top of the local authority has reopened doors to major developers who are back in touch with the council to discuss working in the city again.
Takeaways | See full list of speakers below
- Liverpool City Region needs to get better at presenting a clear and comprehensive investment strategy
- Development viability remains a major hurdle for developers
- Social enterprises ought to be encouraged into projects to ensure community impact
- North Liverpool housing remains below decent standards and must be improved
There was a consensus that Liverpool and the city region have untapped potential. Damien Sharkey and Robert Sloss, managing director and CEO of HUB, said they had tried to develop in Liverpool twice but not been able to bridge the viability gap. HUB is still keen to bring projects forward in the city. Meanwhile, the developer has been able to bring forward 1,000 units in Leeds in the past five years and looked forward to seeing Liverpool accelerate at that scale.
Stephen O’Malley emphasised the importance of civic engagement in fostering healthy and happy neighbourhoods.
Torus’s Anna James discussed the need for truly affordable housing in the North, noting that low-income residents spend over 40% of their income on rent.
Scott McCubbin of Somewhere stressed the importance of place branding and storytelling in attracting investors and creating places for people.
Chris Capes agreed and highlighted the progress in Central Docks, where 2,500 homes are coming forward near Everton’s new stadium, and the importance of quality and sustainability in development.
Despite losing its Unesco World Heritage Site status, Liverpool is recognised by the UN for its sustainability, and was this week named an ‘accelerator city’ for climate action by UN Climate Change.
David Connor, founder of the 2030 Hub, encouraged more companies to shout about their sustainability actions and help make the city a world-leader in the field.
The conversation touched on the need for realistic and sustainable investment strategies, emphasising the importance of viability and quality.
Project Four MD, Alan Robson, raised concerns about lack of investment in modern infrastructure, particularly the need to upgrade the Mersey tunnels, and for greater collaboration across boroughs.
There remains a challenge in attracting institutional capital into Liverpool to compete with other cities. This could be solved by a renewed focus on progressive public-private partnerships and structuring land payments to deliver affordable housing and large-scale regeneration projects.
Hazel Rounding, co-founder of shedkm architects, said “everyone’s talking about the retrofit of buildings, we need to talk about the retrofit of cities,” starting with brownfield land.
Participants agreed on the need for bravery in development and the importance of Liverpool being seen as a city that can deliver sustainable and heritage-led projects.
Participants
- Stephen O’Malley, chief executive, CIVIC
- James Spencer, associate director, shedkm
- Paul Morris, director and head of urban infrastructure, Civic Engineers
- Chris Hall, principal urban designer, Planit
- Pete Swift, founding director, Planit
- Simon Humphreys, director, Starship Group
- Scott McCubbin, associate director at Somewhere
- Nick Bentley, managing director, Somewhere
- Neil Lucas, director, AshtonHale
- Darren Jones, associate director, shedkm
- David Connor, founder, 2030hub
- Alan Robson, managing director, Project Four
- Louise Wyman, head of UK public sector, CBRE
- Damien Sharkey, managing director at HUB
- Hazel Rounding, managing director of shedkm
- Jo Harrop, director of PLACED
- Anna James, director of development and after care, Torus
- Chris Capes, director of development, Liverpool Waters
- Emma Cullen, regeneration, Walker Sime
