Land sale opens door to key development, including 35-storey tower
Liverpool-based developer, Beetham, has sold a gateway site bordering the King Edward Triangle in Liverpool to KEIE, the TJ Morris subsidiary with whom it is working to deliver the eight-acre multimillion-pound waterfront scheme, for an undisclosed sum.
It is part of plans to create a cluster of tall buildings, possibly including the city’s highest tower.
The 0.21-acre plot on the corner of Greenock Street and Waterloo Road is currently a single-storey office and warehouse.
Liverpool City Council had previously resolved to consent to a 16-storey apartment scheme, but the development partners see it as offering scope for something much more ambitious, within the wider King Edward Triangle project.
Beetham chief, Hugh Frost, said: “It was never my desire to develop this site in isolation, but always my hope that it would be the catalyst for our shared ambition to transform King Edward Triangle into a scheme befitting its location.
“We’ve had a few frustrations along the way as we’ve sought to put the key pieces in place, but with TJ Morris’s investment our vision is now able to become a reality. This latest acquisition will be integral to the emerging masterplan.”
Dave Little, Director of KEIE, said: “Our ambition is for the site to host a 35-storey tower as part of a wider cluster of high quality tall buildings that will define this end of the development.
“The scope is there to offer the market stunning waterfront views and architecture that reinforce the development’s place as Liverpool’s prime city centre residential address.”
The partners confirmed that planning and design work continues behind the scenes to bring the project forward.
“Be assured that we are moving at pace,” said Hugh Frost.
“This will be a defining mixed-use scheme for our city and our ambition is to deliver the sort of step-change that Liverpool One provided. That’s the benchmark, and not just in terms of scale, but also urban design, place-making and economic impact.”
The partnership announced earlier in April that it had acquired the King Edward Industrial Estate from Peel following the lifting of a covenant on the site by Liverpool City Council.
Beetham Rockmount (Waterloo Road) Limited, a joint venture between Hugh Frost and Simon Kinsella, was the vendor for this latest transaction and was advised by Guy Pattison of Glenville Walker. TJ Morris’s in-house counsel advised KEIE Limited.
