Redevelopment of famous department store could support 300 jobs
Plans have been submitted to renovate Liverpool’s famous Lewis’s department store in moves that could support up to 300 jobs.
The owner, London-based developer, Augur, said the Grade II-listed building on the junction of Renshaw Street and Ranelagh Street, could provide a variety of uses, including food, drink and leisure facilities, workspaces and meeting rooms, artwork and exhibition spaces, an immersive VR experience, escape rooms and video arcade, and even a micro brewery.
Augur acquired the nine-storey building in 2017.
It had previously been the subject of a proposed £160m scheme, dubbed Central Village, to redevelop the site, which was the victim of the 2008 financial crash.
The original Lewis’s store dates back to 1856 and was rebuilt in 1947 after being damaged during World War II. It closed as a department store in 2010 and has lain mostly empty since then.
Current tenants include a 126-bedroom Adagio Aparthotel and a 25,000 sq ft PureGym.
Augur says an unnamed multi-purpose tenant could occupy the whole ground floor, as well as the lower ground floor and basement, to avoid subdivision, or compartmentation of the spaces.
It is proposed to retain the building’s heritage staircases as part of the redevelopment, while the main point of entry will be the famous ‘Dickie Lewis’ entrance, so called due to the Liverpool Resurgent statue that defined the building down the years.
And to reflect the building’s history as a department store, it is proposed that display windows are still retained at several prominent locations around the perimeter of the site.
The proposal submitted to Liverpool City Council planning committee says: “The ground floor area is one of the most significant spaces within the building from a heritage perspective, and, therefore, the proposals have been sensitively integrated to enhance the architectural language and setting of the space.”
Restaurant facilities are earmarked for the sixth floor, which was previously office space.
The documents said: “These proposals are an important component within a planned refurbishment to secure the long term future of this building and provide occupancy to the chronic vacancy within the lower floors. They have been designed and configured to complement the existing Listed Building features and reinstate vitality and vibrancy to the building façades at pedestrian level, whilst enhancing visual connections into and throughout the internal spaces.
“All details have been carefully considered to be consistent and sensitive to the architectural language of the existing building and to further develop the prevailing character within each of the internal spaces.
“The proposals balance the established building uses, whilst sensitively integrating the commercial and operational requirements of the incoming tenant.”
