Parr Street deal brings wider Liverpool redevelopment scheme a step closer
The sale of a two-storey property in Liverpool’s Parr Street will bring a bigger redevelopment project closer.
The freehold of 55 Parr Street has been sold by property consultancy Fisher German to a private company on behalf of the vendors, The English Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers Charity, for an undisclosed sum.
The sale of the 4,000 sq ft building means a major project to redevelop the Parr Street site into an ambitious mixed-use complex can take a step forward.
Subject to planning permission, 33 to 45 Parr Street – the former home of Parr Street Studios – will be partially demolished to make way for residential, aparthotel and retail units.
While 55 Parr Street is not included in these plans, the building forms part of the wider development and has existing planning permission to be demolished and replaced as part of an older plan.
David Laws, partner at Fisher German, sold the site on behalf of the Christian Brothers. He said: “The building had become surplus to the needs of the Christian Brothers, and the decision to sell the property came at an opportune time with the plans for the surrounding area starting to take shape.
“This sale will enable the wider redevelopment to take place – subject to planning permission – and will help regenerate Liverpool’s vibrant Ropewalks Quarter.”
A spokesperson for the developer has said that they look forward to taking this project forward and creating an exciting mixed-use development in Liverpool’s Ropewalks Quarter.
Solicitors Hill Dickinson acted for the Christian Brothers during the transaction, while Glenville Walker & Partners acted on behalf of the buyers.
Parr Street Studios
Planning permission was granted almost two years ago, by Liverpool City Council, for the Parr Street redevelopment, which includes the iconic Parr Street recording studios, where where artists such as Black Sabbath, Diana Ross, Moby, Pulp, The Charlatans, Coldplay, Doves, Take That and The Beautiful South have recorded.
The proposal was to create 70 apartments, eight aparthotel units and 12,000 sq ft of commercial space.
The plans were approved, despite 186 individual objections and concerns over the cultural loss of the recording studios, and the physical impact on the surrounding area of the proposed scheme.
Developer, PJ Percival Construction, said it aims to create a five-to-six storey residential-led scheme, which has been scaled back from earlier plans for a six-to-eight-storey development.
Assurances were given in 2020 that the studios complex would survive, following an outcry among the city’s musos. But following planning approval the aim was to relocate them to Kempston Street in the Islington area of the city.
Parr Street Studios was built in the 1930s and is spread over four floors. It contained two recording studios, two bars, 11 offices, a 12-bed hotel and a self contained hotel complex with six mini-bedrooms known as Podzzz.
