Peel L&P nears £4.4m deal for Wirral Waters offices

8 September 2020 09:17 Sarah Townsend Comments (0)

The developer is close to securing funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Merseyside Pension Fund to build a 34,000 sq ft office development in Wirral Waters.

The deal, understood to be worth around £4.4m, will help Peel L&P to deliver the £7.7m No 1 Tower Road South project, a three-storey office complex on a key site in the Wirral Waters Enterprise Zone.

The development, part of the regeneration of the wider Four Bridges neighbourhood, will be designed to be BREEAM Excellent-rated and target local businesses and inward investors looking to either relocate or expand, and require modern, sustainable floor space to facilitate their growth.

Tower Road is already home to occupiers including Wirral Metropolitan College’s £10.5m built environment campus, and telecoms firm The Contact Company, which is located within Tower Wharf building.

As well as the new office complex, the Four Bridges regeneration plans also include the development of Egerton Village, a retail, arts and amenities district, and the Maritime Knowledge Hub, intended to serve as a national base for marine engineering research and development and survival training, and as business accelerator space for small companies in the marine sector.

Peel L&P is also delivering improved streetscape work on Tower Road itself – a project that started in June – while work started to build 1,000 homes on a nearby site along Northbank and Dock Road.

The funding deal for No 1 Tower Road South has yet to complete and is expected to be tied up within the next fortnight. The scheme, designed by Glenn Howells Architects, secured planning permission last year and has already been promised

Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Wirral Waters at Peel L&P, said: “[The funding] means this multimillion-pound business hub can proceed as planned, bringing investment, economic growth, and jobs to Wirral.

“We hope to be announcing the contractor very shortly with work starting on site in the autumn.”

Cllr Pat Cleary, chair of Merseyside Pension Fund, added: “This is our fourth property investment from [our] Catalyst Fund, which was established in 2017 to support economic development in the Liverpool City Region.

“It is pleasing that we are able to invest in this way, providing our members with a commercial return while giving financial support to an important regeneration project in Wirral.”

And Cllr Tony Jones, cabinet member for regeneration and growth at Wirral Council, said that No 1 Tower Road South “would be the cornerstone of a comprehensive and exciting development”.