Liverpool’s former John Lewis hits market
Located off Williamson Square in the city centre, the George Henry Lee Building offers 153,000 sq ft of retail space across nine floors.
HilcoGlobal has been appointed as receiver to sell the 250-year leasehold of 20-48 Basnett Street, once home to department store John Lewis.
While L&G owns the freehold of the property, the leasehold has been held by Rapid Property Investments since 2008, according to HM Land Registry.
The company was placed into receivership by fixed charge holder OSF last year.
The building has been vacant for several years. The only tenant is Poundland, which occupies 14,000 sq ft across the ground floor and basement.
In 2019, a proposal from Niboco to redevelop the building into a 157-bedroom hotel was approved by Liverpool City Council. However, that consent has since lapsed.
Niboco and Rapid Property Investments are both headed up by Christine and Dominik Bolza, according to Companies House.
The George Henry Lee Building was built in the mid-1800s and started out as a bonnet store before being sold to the John Lewis Partnership in 1940.
John Lewis ceased trading from the Basnett Street store in 2008 and relocated to a 260,000 sq ft complex within Grosvenor’s Liverpool One.
