TGI Friday’s joins Central Village
Restaurant TGI Friday's will open its first Liverpool city centre outlet at Merepark's £160m Central Village development.
TGI Friday's has taken 7,650 sq ft of space on the development's Plaza level and will be situated within the new Central Station extension.
The American style restaurant joins European hotel brand Adagio, which is opening its first Adagio Aparthotel in the UK at Central Village, and pan-Asian restaurant Cosmo.
Other newcomers to Liverpool that have signed up to space in the development include Coast to Coast, Zouk Tea Bar & Grill, 24-hour gym chain Pure Gym, and restaurant brand Chiquito.
The scheme is the city centre's largest current regeneration and leisure development and spans six acres from and including the former Lewis's department store, through to Bold Street and Central Station.
Work on the redevelopment of Lewis's, which has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, has already begun. Work is set to start on the Boardwalk phase, which includes a new public plaza and water feature off Newington Square, this year.
The scheme will extend Liverpool's retail and leisure core with three new hotels, offices, as well as retail outlets, restaurants, bars, cafes, a new public car park and extensive landscaped public spaces.
It is scheduled to be complete in 2014.
David Carroll, UK director of acquisition and development at TGI Friday's, said: "Liverpool is a city that we've wanted to bring the Friday's experience to for some time. We're pleased to have secured a prime position in the Central Village development as it offers the perfect location for us."
Neal Hunter, associate director at Merepark, the developer behind the scheme, said: "Liverpool, in comparison with lots of cities in the UK, is still a robust marketplace, and a development on the scale of Central Village provides an ideal platform to attract high-profile inward investment.
"Central Village is rapidly filling up with names which will bring a new offering to the people of Liverpool and its many visitors, and we are seeing a high demand for the remaining space."
