Plans to bring Fruit Exchange building back into use as 81-room hotel approved

Plans for an 81-room hotel in Liverpool city centre were unanimously approved by the council’s planning committee this morning (August 20).

City planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval, saying it will facilitate the viable re-use of valued heritage assets and enable the efficient regeneration of a long term vacant site, which will create a vibrant and inviting local environment.

Fiona Root, agent for the applicant, Liverpool-based developer, JSM Group, told the committee that the smaller of the property’s two historic auction rooms could be converted into a space capable of hosting a comedy club, lectures or hiring out for “one-on-one acapella concerts”.

JSM Group’s plans for The Fruit Exchange, on Victoria Street, also include internal and external alterations for the hotel, with associated restaurant and bar and an additional bar to the first floor on Mathew Street, at the rear, as an extension to an existing Mathew Street bar.

Two new dormer spaces on the roof, at the rear, are also planned.

The proposal excludes the existing bars/clubs situated at ground floor and basement level.

JSM Group obtained planning permission for an 85-bed hotel development in April 2020, but the approval had expired due to the impact of the pandemic.

The main change for the updated application included the omission of four bedrooms at upper ground level behind part of the former main Auction Hall and the insertion of an ancillary bar area.

The Grade II-listed site is located within the Castle Street Conservation Area and was originally built as a railway goods depot in 1888, which was converted into a fruit exchange in 1923, boasting two historic auction rooms.

It was put on the market in 1992 for sale, or demolition.

More recently, while the ground floor and basements are in use for bars/clubs, the upper floors remain vacant and in a dilapidated condition.

Cllr William Shortall spoke to the proposal, saying: “I welcome the development on the whole”, but he requested that the developer includes track hoist facilities in at least one room for disabled guests.

The application was amended to include a track hoist in one room, and unanimously approved.