Dusanj brothers team up with Henry Boot for Brewery Village
CONSTRUCTION group Henry Boot is on board for the Dusanj brothers’ proposal to turn their former Cains Brewery site in Liverpool into a leisure and tourism destination.
The scheme comes before the city’s planning committee next week and is expected to be approved, based on a recommendation from officials.
A report prepared ahead of the meeting shows Henry Boot “will potentially” partner the applicants.
Sudarghara Dusanj told TheBusinessDesk.com he was in early talks with Henry Boot over a joint venture which would see the group bring funding as well as construction expertise.
Cains first unveiled the plans in April as a rescue plan for the business when it was struggling with low margins from supermarket contracts. But since then it has been wound up with debts of £8m.
Nonetheless, Mr Dusanj and his brother Ajmail who own the site, are pushing ahead with the redevelopment plans. They want to turn part of the grade II-listed headquarters building on Grafton Street into a 100-bed boutique hotel, art house cinema, food market and restaurant.
The plans, drawn up by Falconer Chester Hall, include a second phase of apartments on an adjacent site. The scheme, called Brewery Village, is expected to create around 800 jobs and attract 500,000 visitors a year.
A council document prepared ahead of the planning meeting on November 19 shows the Dusanjs, applying as Brewery Village Ltd, have been let off £800,000 in section 106 payments. The contributions, that legally oblige developers to pay for infrastructure works and public realm improvements, should have been £1.2m, but have been reduced to £400,000 after Brewery Village said the sum threatened the viability of the scheme.
