Administrators bring West Tower to market
THE administrators appointed to the company which owned Liverpool’s West Tower have said they are finally ready to begin marketing the building after hammering out a deal with the City Council over land infringements.
A newly-filed report by Mapfield Properties’ administrator Grant Thornton states that it is “close to reaching a satisfactory conclusion” to an ongoing dispute with the council over a section of the building that overhangs public land.
The 40-storey West Tower site was completed by Liverpool developer Beetham Organization in 2008. The building contains 123 apartments and a ground floor restaurant. However, some 58 of the apartments jut out onto a 36m strip of public highway which was not owned by the developer.
It agreed to buy the land and airspace for £750,000, but the council had not received any money by the time that that Mapfield Properties – the Beetham-owned business which held West Tower’s freehold – was placed into administration last year.
Joint administrator Les Ross told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We hope to market West Tower within a matter of weeks and will be looking for a single buyer or small group of buyers.
“West Tower remains a highly prestigious development and we have already received a number of expressions of interest.”
As a result of the delays, Grant Thornton has applied to extend its role as administrator of Mapfield Properties, which collapsed owing £25.6m to its secured lender, Anglo Irish Bank.
Some 17 of the apartments and the restaurant space were sold prior to the appointment of administrators.
The assets now being brought to market includes four floors of commercial space and the remaining 106 apartments – many of which are currently tenanted.
