Liverpool Vision

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City Centre

Liverpool City Centre is home to several key developments. These include the Commercial District, Retail Core, Waterfront, Knowledge Quarter, Lime Street Gateway, Ropewalks, Baltic Triangle and Hope Street.

Commercial District

Liverpool’s Commercial District has witnessed a remarkable transformation in developer interest and investor confidence. Since 2000, more than 1m sq ft of grade A office space has been successfully delivered in the city’s business district.

New schemes such as 101 Old Hall Street, City Square, 20 Chapel Street and St. Paul’s Square together with completed and planned investment in the public realm are transforming the look and performance of the area and helping attract new companies to the city.

By facilitating a consistent stream of new high quality space, Liverpool Vision is helping to sustain the city’s rapid economic growth, meet rising local demand and compete effectively for inward investment.

The recent decision by Maersk to relocate its head office to Liverpool demonstrates its faith in the city.

Retail Core

Liverpool‘s retail landscape has changed dramatically since the opening of Grosvenor’s Liverpool ONE development on 2008.
Grosvenor’s £1bn Liverpool One project is the largest retail-led regeneration project in Europe. The scheme, covering 42 acres provides 1.5m sq ft of retail space as well as hotels, apartments, a multi-screen cinema and restaurants.
Liverpool One, together with the Met Quarter feature stores previously absent from the city such as Debenhams, Hugo Boss, Armani, Esprit, L’Occitane, Henri Llloyd, Swarovski and Wagamama. Liverpool ONE has catapulted the city to 5th biggest retail city in the UK in 2009, up from 15th the previous year.

Land Securities have planning permission for a multi million pound refurbishment of St. John’s Centre which will see the relocation of the city market to Williamson Square and the extensive re-modeling of the centre itself. Land Securities investment in the centre, which focuses on the value end of the market, complements the offer in Liverpool One and the Met Quarter.

The public realm within the retail area has benefitted from significant investment upgrading the quality of the entire retail centre.

Waterfront

Over the past five years the regeneration of Liverpool’s city centre waterfront has become a reality, with the development of a number of major schemes helping to transform the area into a major visitor destination.

At Kings Waterfront, the Liverpool Echo Arena – which launched the city’s European Capital of Culture celebrations in January 2008 – and the BT Convention Centre have hosted a series of high profile national and international events and conferences. Opposite, two new hotels – Jurys Inn and Staybridge – opened in late Spring 2008.

At Albert Dock, an extensive programme of environmental and infrastructure improvements – including new lighting, signposting and pedestrian access – is improving the destination offer.

Perhaps the most dramatic transformation is at the Pier Head. The City of Liverpool Cruise Liner Terminal opened in September 2007 and is already attracting visits from some of the largest liners on the European circuit.

The Leeds - Liverpool Canal Link, opened in April 2009, provides unbroken access for narrow boats to newly constructed berths in the south docks. The Mersey Ferries Terminal – including a cafe, restaurant, 4D cinema and Beatles Story exhibition – was formally opened in July 2009.

The public space at the Pier Head public has been completely remodelled, with two sheltered basins overlooking the canal providing an attractive area for sitting out. Adjoining the Pier Head at Mann Island work is well advanced on the new Museum of Liverpool, scheduled to open in late 2010, and on the mixed use development by Countryside Neptune, with the first phase scheduled for completion in Spring 2010.

Knowledge Quarter

The role that Liverpool’s universities play in the economy of the region is very significant. The city’s Knowledge Quarter generates £1 billion in income per annum, supports as many as 14,000 full-time jobs, around 7% of the Liverpool total - in just 1% of the city’s geographical area. Many are highly-skilled knowledge based jobs, the key driver for the development of modern cities - in particular in the bio-sciences, health related research and practice, and digital technology.

A cluster of activity sits at the interface of the universities in the Brownlow Hill area of the city centre. The first two phases of the Liverpool Science Park are located adjacent to the Metropolitan Cathedral alongside the Liverpool John Moores University Design Academy. The Design Academy and phase two of the Liverpool Science Park development were both completed in 2009 and have consolidated the focus of the knowledge community in this area.

North of the University of Liverpool campus the School of Tropical Medicine - a world leader in the field of infectious diseases has completed a £25m extension, funded by the Gates Foundation and NWDA, which accommodates space for primary research and consultancy activity further consolidating its international reputation. The school plans further expansion of its activities in future years.

In recognition of the importance of the Knowledge Quarter to the regional economy a programme of public realm improvements have commenced. Liverpool Vision is co-coordinating improvements to streets and spaces over the next 3 years.

The first project, University Square – at the junction of Brownlow Hill and Mount Pleasant, has delivered a new public space at the heart of the area and improvements to the key routes through the area. Brownlow Hill and Mount Pleasant are on site and planned for completion in 2010. A new publically accessible green space in the “wilderness area” between the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool Science Park and the Liverpool John Moores University Design Academy enabled consolidation of the knowledge cluster in the area.

Lime Street Gateway

Lime Street Station and the surrounding area is the most important gateway to Liverpool city centre. The station is Grade II Listed and along with adjoining buildings such as St George’s Hall, the Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum Liverpool is part of the city’s World Heritage Site.

Liverpool Vision, working with Homes & Communities Agency, Network Rail, Liverpool City Council and Merseytravel, is managing the delivery of a new gateway.

The largely redundant office block at Concourse House and ground level shopping units on Lime Street, which previously masked the station facade, have been removed. In their place a new public space is being constructed, using gentle slopes and steps to address the change in level between the station concourse and Lime Street and improve access for all station users.

The design also incorporates seating and tree planting, feature lighting to highlight the magnificent station facade, and a unique series of etchings in the glazing of the station arches and stone paviors in the public space.

The project is scheduled for completion in Spring 2010.

Ropewalks

RopeWalks is a unique area of the city centre, characterised by the concentration of 19th century warehouses and merchants houses. Much of the street pattern and built fabric is the same today as it was 200 years ago. The long, narrow streets were at one time used to bind rope, and are still the defining characteristic of the area.

Since the early 1990s, RopeWalks has developed as a centre for Liverpool’s night-time economy and creative industries. Many businesses operating within RopeWalks are drawn from media, publishing, design and communications sectors, and are now actively working together to promote the area to visitors and shoppers as an independent quarter.

RopeWalks has established itself as part of the city centre living phenomenon. Many historic buildings have now been refurbished as apartments and there have been significant amounts of new build on gap sites in the area. An active residential community is established in the area.

Baltic Triangle

The Baltic Triangle is part of the historic port hinterland and is bordered by Ropewalks, Liverpool One and Kings Waterfront. It contains a mix of historic warehouses and functional business premises populated by small businesses and an increasing residential population.

Development in recent years has focused in the northern half of the area adjacent to Liverpool One, where a number of residential developments have been completed. More recently the southern Creative Quarter has become a location of choice for a range of creative businesses. Companies already established and trading in the area include A Foundation, Liverpool Biennial, The Picket music venue, Novas’s Contemporary Urban Centre and Elevator Studios.

Liverpool Vision has co-ordinated the establishment Baltic Creative, a community interest company with a remit to refurbish workshop units in the area to house creative businesses to support the growth of the area as a cluster for creative businesses. Liverpool Vision is also coordinating the delivery of public realm improvements in the area

Hope Street

Within the Hope Street area investment in the public realm has triggered private sector investment in further hotel and restaurant developments and the growth of the cafe culture. Projects to expand and invest in the Everyman Theatre and Philharmonic Hall are in development, supplementing completed projects at the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedrals which have developed a growth in their tourism/visitor potential.

With monthly markets and an annual festival the Hope Street Quarter is rapidly establishing itself as a visitor destination in its own right, standing alongside the waterfront as Liverpool City Centre’s two most recognizable destinations.

Documents & Links

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The Capital, 39 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9PP
Telephone: +44(0)151 600 2900
Email: info@liverpoolvision.co.uk