Augur adds hotel proposal for iconic Lewis’s building plans

The developer behind plans to reconfigure Liverpool’s iconic Lewis’s building has unveiled plans to include 146 hotel rooms as part of its scheme.

London-based Augur acquired the nine-storey former department store in 2017.

It revealed development proposals for the Grade II-listed site in August which it said could support up to 300 jobs.

Augur’s plans for the 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.

Now, it wants to update its proposals, following a separate application to Liverpool City Council, involving the creation of 146 hotel rooms on vacant first and second floor space.

Adagio Aparthotel already offers 126 rooms in another section of the building.

The Lewis’s site had previously been the subject of a proposed £160m scheme, dubbed Central Village, to redevelop the location, 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 the 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.

Restaurant facilities are earmarked for the sixth floor, which was previously office space.