Plans submitted for Shankly hotel

PLANS have gone in for Liverpool’s Bill Shankly-themed 250-bed aparthotel at Millennium House.

Signature Living, based in the city, has acquired the site from the city council which is relocating staff to the Cunard building after buying it from the Merseyside Pension Fund.

Signature already has 310 beds in Liverpool across four sites and has permission to convert the former Strand office of the White Star Line which owned the Titanic.

The Bill Shankly hotel, at the junction of Whitechapel and Victoria Street, will have a museum dedicated to the revered former Liverpool FC manager.

The £15m development will also include 17,500 sq ft of upgraded office space – which will house Signature Living’s head office, as well as providing space for local start-up companies.

A planning statement said: “It is the aspiration of Signature Living that Millennium House will retain its architectural qualities and offer a range of important uses for the city. The development will create a hub of activity combining the hospitality, office and leisure industries to create a highly utilised building that will increase the pedestrian footfall in the area and animate the adjacent streets.”

The city’s Lifestyles Gym which operates from the building will be expanded and transformed into a facility with new equipment and leased back by the council.

The project is being designed by BLOK Architecture.