Go-ahead for Liverpool’s first Moxy hotel

Marriott’s Moxy hotel brand and a Fresh student village are to be developed at Renshaw Hall, a vacant car park site in Liverpool city centre.

The site had a previous approval for a student complex and aparthotel scheme in 2016, but with committed hotel and student operators on board, the developer Niveda Group has reviewed its original permission.

Falconer Chester Hall has designed the newly approved plans, which see a reduction in the number of blocks from three to two with an increase in the number of student rooms. The site will now house 404 student beds and a 160-bedroom hotel.

The site sits between the Ropewalks, the Rodney Street conservation area and Liverpool’s two city centre university campuses.   It also fronts Oldham Square and will help provide animate it via an active commercial frontage.

The Moxy brand was launched in 2016 by Marriott, described as “a millennial-focused boutique concept” focused on “fun-hunter travellers”. There are Moxy projects on site at Invicta House in Manchester’s Spinningfields, and in central Chester, at the former Broughton retail centre.

Project architect Quentin Keohane said: “It’s a really striking scheme with quality public realm that will bring the area to life. Both operators bring something fresh to the city.

“The scheme will be primarily of brick and the vertical proportions reflect the tall hoist wells seen in the Ropewalks area. The upper levels are finished in zinc to pick up on the traditional materials used in the roofscape of the conservation areas adjacent and to help the scheme blend into the city’s skyline.”

Zerum acted as planning consultant.