Benmore starts work on Dale St hotel

IRISH property developer Benmore Group has begun work on a £10m project transforming a derelict site on Dale St in Liverpool city centre into a 123-bed hotel.

The company said the project would transform one of the city’s major thoroughfares, and that it planned to retain the facade of the Pioneer Buildings, which is not listed but falls within the Castle Street conservation area and is within the boundary of Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage site.

The hotel has been designed by Liverpool-based architects Falconer Chester Hall. The project also includes a 300-space car park and some ground floor retail units. The hotel is set to open early in 2013.

Benmore said that it has already secured international operators for both the hotel and car park elements of the scheme. Its chief executive, David Burrows, said it will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Dale St.

“We believe this proposal offers the right blend of assets for a street which is in danger of missing out on the regeneration which has benefited so much of the city centre over the last four to five years,” he said.

“There is undoubtedly a demand for further quality hotel beds in the city and we believe our investment in Dale Street will help to attract other investors and to encourage plans which may be on hold at the moment.

“It is thanks, in no small part, to the business-friendly outlook of the city council, and the professionalism of its planning and regeneration experts, that we have been able to bring forward this scheme in the current economic climate.”

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, said: “This is a key and high profile street for Liverpool which has languished too long. Transforming this block will help to improve the entire environment. It’s long overdue and extremely positive.”

Liverpool-based developer Iliad Group is also onsite at Dale St with an 84-bed boutique hotel in the former Municipal Annexe building on Dale St.