Packaged Living scores approval for Liverpool towers
Having successfully won over the city council’s planning committee this morning, the developer is now aiming to start construction on the 19- and 25-storey apartment blocks in early 2027.
Demolition of the existing redundant computer centre that currently occupies the Old Hall Street site is due to commence early next year.
The future 434 apartments will be delivered by Packaged Living, in partnership with Affinius Capital. The duo had acquired the brownfield site in 2022.
Packaged Living’s plans for the site include a mixture of one-, two-, and three-bed flats as well as coworking areas, a gym, lounges, and rooftop terraces.
The taller of the two towers will hold 150 flats with one bedroom, 146 with two, and six with three. Of its 302 apartments, 32 will be wheelchair accessible.
The other, shorter tower, will comprise 65 apartments with one bedroom, 63 with two, and four with three. Of its 132 flats, 10 will be wheelchair accessible.
There will be only seven car parking bays provided, with the developer focused on promoting active travel. There will be 16 Sheffield cycle stands and, in a bid to improve the area’s cycle network, the addition of a pedestrian and cycle route through Back Leeds Street.
Regarding the vote to approve from Liverpool City Council, Edwina Coward, development manager for Packaged Living, said: “We’re excited to be bringing forward a landmark development at this prominent gateway site and we’re so pleased to be able to provide more homes and public realm for this great city.
“An extensive public consultation unlocked the wisdom of the Liverpool public and we were delighted at the quality of people’s ideas and observations about how we could improve the scheme and connectivity towards the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium and everything in between,” she continued.
“The outcome is very much a shared vision.”
Falconer Chester Hall was the architect for the project. Architect Adam Hall said: “The buildings offer an elegant and confident entrance statement to the city’s commercial core in an area that delivers on the potential of clustering taller buildings.
“The views north towards Everton’s new stadium, Blackpool Tower and the Lake District fells beyond will take some beating.”
To learn more about plans for Packaged Living’s proposals search for reference 23F/3073 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal. Turley was the project’s planning consultant and Re-form Landscape Architecture designed the public realm.
Why 2027 (assuming it happens) and not next year. Why can’t Liverpool attract serious developers.
By Brian
As the story states, demolition will begin next year.
By Julia Hatmaker
Well that’s a plus, looking forward to the demolition work and cranes in the sky in 2027.
By Anonymous
Better late than never. 11 years after the first plans were released.
By Just in time
Good news, shame about the timescale but hopefully it goes to plan
By Anonymous
Residents can park their cars outside Liverpool city center and ride home by bicycle.
You know it makes sense!
By James Yates
Brian – If other projects are anything to go by, it will take 12 months to get Building Safety Regulator Approval. It’s mad that that is the case as it’s killing the construction industry at the moment.
By Mike
Bet those V columns get VE’d out!
By Mike
Aw, c’mon guys: Packaged Living have stayed with this scheme over two years whilst Liverpool council plodded along its merry way. Give them some credit. And @Brian – these guys are ‘serious developers’.
By More Anonymous than the others
Brilliant news
By Anonymous
I’m happy that this scheme has approval but honestly the Approval is only valid for a period of 2 years and it will need to be approved by the BSR. I suspect this will be sold off pretty quickly
By Anonymous
Why not 30 and 25 stories? It’s prime land make them taller!
By Djsjtj
Adding thousands more residents to a transport system which can’t cope on a normal day, never mind on a match day, is simply foolish.
By Anonymous
It had taken 11 years
By Anonymous
Doesn’t take over a year to clear one very modest building.
By Anonymous
The painful BSR process is the reason why main works wont start until 2027
By Toby
You couldn’t make it up 2027 thereafter 11 years of planning the Lexington had taken 15 years seriously though?
By Anonymous
If this gets VE’d it will be a tacky mess.
By Please no
Re the public transport issue, hopefully in a few years we’ll have a new Mayor in place, one that can confirm we get a new Merseyrail station at Vauxhall, and who understands that fake trams aren’t the answer and we push for a proper tram network like Leeds is getting.
By Anonymous
I hope they will use high quality materials.
The new grey towers in this area look v cheap compared to the ones in Manchester. Alongside the river, it has a very cold and bleak energy about it.
By Concerned
The delays due to the Building Safety Regulators involvement will probably scupper this development. The Government really needs to get a grip of them.
By Anonymous
Early 2027? Hang on, why not early 2026? This is one of the reasons I left Liverpool and moved to Manchester.
By Anonymous
Please not another nondescript FCH tower block. Prime site which should have quality architecture not some third rate provincial durge. I wsh the council would grow a backbone and reject stuff like this on design grounds.
By Anonymous
So.. it’s a 15 minute city project.. with no great design or fit for place adaption other than a stretch of.. cycle path.. walos
By Anonymous
Interesting to see how basic economics seems to escape people on this thread (eg Anonymous, 10.32). A city gets the buildings it can afford. London, New York, Paris? Glitz and glam galore. Liverpool? Less so, because average earnings and land values are considerably lower. Simple, really.
By Anonymous
@ 1:45 that argument of “we get the buildings we can afford” might wash with the ill informed such as our local councillors, but nice try.
If you think all Liverpool can hope for is third rate provincial durge pumped out by FCH and low-ambition developers, you are mistaken. Plenty of examples of smaller cities than Liverpool having higher design standards and more attractive new buildings. Even Sheffield manages it for goodness sake.
This argument is just put out there by developers who wantt o maximise their profit at the expense of quality.
By Anonymous
Re 10.32am Anon, of course these buildings could’ve been higher spec but couldn’t most buildings. Our talls are not funded by the wealthiest American finance corporations so we have to compromise, anyway these are not horrific designs, also we’ve waited long enough for them and this project should proceed.
By Anonymous
Anonymous 1.45 pm. You say “basic economics” but you mean “pure Marketism”: Whereby societies, communities, countrysides are structured according to the desires of those with wealth. “Marketism” has been the the death of Anglo-American Economics. There is no need for any National Economy theory if Economics agrees that “private money should rule” and that serves the common good. Too simple to be true, and it is. This is where “Marketism” and “Marxism” shake hands.
By Anonymous
More tales from Fantasy Island
By Dino Carlucci
25 storeys in such a prominent location is just so disappointing! Liverpool lack serious ambition.. they should take a look at their neighbors Manchester for inspiration
By Anonymous
Asis stated below, 11 years to get planning approval, someone somewhere needs to answer some questions that’s ridiculous can anyone explain why, so frustrating
By Larry
As far as I can see nobody is blaming the developers, it’s the planners who hold everything up, does planning take this long in London Birmingham or Manchester
By Larry
@Anon 2.07pm, all well and good, so where are the elite developers and investors queueing up to build in Liverpool with their Zaha Hadid designs?
By Anonymous
Good point Anon @ 7:52am, one of Liverpool’s problems is that so much prime land is landbanked by low-ambition developers.
By Anon
Pigs might fly (start 2027???)
By Seen it all before
Vote Reform
By Anonymous
Typical no parking .
Anti car all the LCC
By Ben