Six-figure bridging loan helps put Ivy opening on menu for Liverpool
Cheadle-based property lender Together, alongside Watts Commercial Finance, have provided a bridging loan of nearly £1.7m to bring luxury restaurant chain The Ivy to Liverpool.
The loan will be used by Liverpool-based property investor, JSM Property Group, to support the change of use of Liverpool’s former Bank of England building, in Castle Street.
This would involve the conversion of the ground floor into a restaurant along with a commercial kitchen.
After gaining planning permission to convert the building into a restaurant from Liverpool City Council last month, JSM Property Group secured a letting with The Ivy to bring their first site to Liverpool.
It will complement two other Ivy sites already established in Manchester.
The basement level will provide further storage, office, staff break and changing spaces, while the first floor is to be used for customer toilets.
Originally constructed between 1845 and 1848 by architect Charles Robert Cockrell, The Grade I-listed landmark had previously laid dormant for years.
Located at the corner of Castle Street and Cook Street in central Liverpool, the property is four storeys tall with a basement, and includes two existing extensions at the rear.
Marc Goldberg, CEO at Together said: “We have seen so many iconic properties across the UK sitting empty and disused, and we are delighted to have been able to support the conversion of the beautiful Bank of England into a site for The Ivy.
“We recently conducted research that found there was currently 1.55 million properties sat derelict in England and Wales, and we hope to see more developers taking advantage of these opportunities to bring such properties back to life.”
He added: “Partnering with Watts to help JSM Property Group has been excellent, and we hope to continue working together on more exciting projects in the future.”
Mark Jerman, Senior Commercial Manager at Watts, said: “The former Bank of England premises is an exciting project for both the client and the city of Liverpool and we look forward to seeing the property develop and re-open.”
The Bank of England closed its Liverpool branch on November 28, 1986, and it was intended to reopen as a restaurant in 1988 following an approved change of use application. Despite this, the site has remained empty and available for lease until at least 2021.
It was occupied in April 2015 by ‘Love Activists’ in a protest over the provision of shelter and accommodation for the city’s homeless.
Five protesters were subsequently jailed for almost three months in September that year on trespass charges.
