Vermont resumes work on The Quarter
Directors at a relaunched Vermont say work will restart 'within days' on the £100m waterfront development on Sefton Street, south of Liverpool city centre.
The mixed-use scheme at the junction of Sefton Street and Parliament Street is being developed by Sefton Street Developments LLP, a joint venture between Ethel Austin Properties and Vermont Developments. Construction was interrupted in August when Vermont was put into administration by Downing Corporate Finance, one of its London-based shareholders, over debts on a Salford residential project.
The development at The Quarter is owned and funded through a separate JV company, Sefton Street Developments LLP, which was unaffected by the administration. However, the situation at Vermont created a number of legal and contractual problems in completing the initial phases of the project. These have now been resolved and Ethel Austin Properties and a new company Vermont Capitol Limited have committed to the completion of the scheme, which features a 173-bed four star hotel and 22-storey residential tower, office accommodation, retail and leisure space and a new public square.
Mark Connor, director of Vermont Capitol, said: "It's been a difficult few months, but having reached agreement with all the stakeholders on the project we can focus on moving forward with delivering our vision for The Quarter. I'm obviously grateful to Bank of Ireland and Ethel Austin Properties for their unstinting support."
Andrew Lovelady, of Ethel Austin Properties, said: "The Quarter will be great news for Liverpool and we're delighted to be able to get back on track with what is an outstanding scheme."
Connor added: "Despite the difficult market conditions, residential completions are progressing and lettings are extremely strong with demand exceeding all of our initial forecasts.
"It was never an option for the stakeholders to allow this very successful scheme to be affected by the unnecessary administration of the Vermont Developments business, and with the support of Ethel Austin Properties and the Bank of Ireland, we can now focus on moving forward as planned."
