Work begins on Toxteth pop-up scheme

Developer CanCo has started work on a shipping container retail scheme, with construction expected to complete in March.

The development will comprise 14 refurbished, insulated shipping containers, each sized at 150 sq ft. They will be placed around a central courtyard bound by Lodge Lane and Grierson Street. They are due to be ready for occupation by pop-up retailers after Easter.

The containers will be available on short flexible terms and priority will be given to local retailers and other businesses, according to the developer.

The scheme secured planning permission in August 2018, but the contractor, Liverpool-based Larnook, had to refrain from starting work on site until licencing issues were agreed.

CanCo is promising “a funky urban development” that takes its lead from similar schemes such as Hatch on Manchester’s Oxford Road, and Boxpark in Shoreditch, London.

As part of plans to widen the community’s involvement, poetry and stories written by local artists including poet Levi Tafari will be printed on the containers.

Yas Alawi, from New Era Property Management, and a local resident, said: “It’s the community that has given Lodge Lane its energy and so we want as many local people as possible to come forward with ideas to occupy the new units.”

Nathan Schreiber, director of CanCo, said: “We want the scheme to represent the ethos of ‘Made in Liverpool’. Our contractors are local, we’ve sourced the containers from Liverpool and we want our tenants to be from as close to Lodge Lane as possible.”