Sensor City secures ERDF backing

The £15m Sensor City tech incubator currently under construction in Liverpool city centre has been awarded £5m from the European Regional Development Fund towards the build project.

Kier Construction is currently on site at the innovation centre at Copperas Hill, being delivered in a joint venture between Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool between Lime Street station and Russell Street.

The 25,000 sq ft facility will “focus on creating, nurturing and establishing commercially viable hi-tech companies”, according to LJMU.

The ERDF money comes from the European Structural & Investment Funds Growth Programme for 2014-2020.

IBI Group is the architect on Sensor City.

The building is expected to house around 300 businesses within flexible laboratory and office space.

Development will occur over a two-stage design-and-build process, with construction completing in 2017.

The scheme was also awarded a £5m grant last summer from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, as part of the Government’s creation of one of the first UK university enterprise zones in Liverpool.

Sensor City sits within the £80m Copperas Hill redevelopment area, which is being delivered by Liverpool John Moores University on the site of the former Royal Mail sorting office near to Liverpool Lime Street.