Plans for £15m Bootle tower makeover move forward
Healthcare specialist VVHC’s proposal to convert and extend a 16-storey tower block in Bootle into an elderly care hub is set to be approved by Sefton Council next week.
The project, delivered in partnership with registered provider One Vision Housing and contractor Carroll Build, will see the empty Irlam House re-clad and comprehensively overhauled. The building dates to 1964 and had been earmarked for demolition.
This will include the addition of two further storeys to the building, set to include a restaurant and communal lounge, while there will be 90 apartments for the elderly.
Other facilities proposed by the developer include a gym and yoga room, viewing decks, cinema, craft rooms, and beauty therapy rooms. Condy Lofthouse is the architect.
Next week, the development will go before Sefton Council’s planning committee with a recommendation to approve.
Planning officers said the scheme would “make efficient use of land, enhance the appearance of a run down and neglected prominent building, and provide a significant social benefit within the area in terms of allowing local residents in need of care to remain within the South Sefton and have the resulting effect of making available a number of larger family homes”.
If planning consent is secured, the developer said work could begin in the summer ahead of completion in autumn 2020.