Central Village Liverpool City Center

[Kev]

THE developers of the £160m Central Village scheme in Liverpool city centre have held discussions with Rapid Hardware about buying their Renshaw Street store.

Rapid is set to move into the John Lewis store in Church Street in 2011, freeing its buildings along Renshaw Street for redevelopment. The company has confirmed it has been in talks with developers working with city centre regeneration company Liverpool Vision regarding the sale of the building.

Rapid’s buildings sit behind the Central Village development site, where building work will soon start on a complex of shops and two residential towers.

Earlier this year, Merepark, which is developing Central Village with partner Ballymore, confirmed it was in talks with Rapid about buying the hardware store’s former paint shop further down Renshaw Street next to Lewis’s department store.

A spokeswoman for Merepark confirmed the developer had spoken to the store about the rest of its Renshaw Street properties stretching up to the junction with Berry Street.

The spokeswoman said: “We have had some discussions with Rapid about the Renshaw Street premises.

“Because they’re an adjoining landowner, we have an interest in the site but want to stress nothing final has been agreed. It’s still very much at the discussion stage.”

Construction work on Central Village, which will be built on derelict land behind Central Station between Bold Street and Renshaw Street, will start in November.

Phase one of the project includes two towers, one 25 storeys high and the other 20 storeys high. They will sit alongside two nine-storey and one five-storey buildings.

The 600,000sqft development is expected to create more than 800 jobs.

Merepark has bought other buildings in the area to control the condition of buildings near Central Village.

In April, Merepark confirmed it was in discussions about buying Rapid’s post war concrete and glass paint store building half way down Renshaw Street. The company planned to demolish the building to make way for access to Central Village, but no deal has yet been struck.

John Lewis will move from its historic Church Street premises to a new home in Grosvenor’s Liverpool One development next spring.

Marks & Spencer will then take over the building for two years while its own neighbouring store is refurbished.

Rapid take over the store in 2011 and says its move will create 200 new jobs.

alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk

[Paul D]

I can't wait until this starts,Imagine the impact on the area it will have.It'll link up the Ropewalks,Paradise Street which will in turn link up the Waterfront perfectly,other Northern cities started regenerating many years ago and now it's our turn to shine.

[woody]

Construction News reporting that Carillion has landed a £70m first phase of Central Village, this phase includes both towers and a 4star hotel.

Work will start early 2008.

[Kev]

Fantastic pics and update Woody, cheers matey

[Libertarian]

THE developers of the £160m Central Village scheme in Liverpool city centre have held discussions with Rapid Hardware about buying their Renshaw Street store.

Rapid is set to move into the John Lewis store in Church Street in 2011, freeing its buildings along Renshaw Street for redevelopment. The company has confirmed it has been in talks with developers working with city centre regeneration company Liverpool Vision regarding the sale of the building.

Rapid’s buildings sit behind the Central Village development site, where building work will soon start on a complex of shops and two residential towers.

Earlier this year, Merepark, which is developing Central Village with partner Ballymore, confirmed it was in talks with Rapid about buying the hardware store’s former paint shop further down Renshaw Street next to Lewis’s department store.

A spokeswoman for Merepark confirmed the developer had spoken to the store about the rest of its Renshaw Street properties stretching up to the junction with Berry Street.

The spokeswoman said: “We have had some discussions with Rapid about the Renshaw Street premises.

“Because they’re an adjoining landowner, we have an interest in the site but want to stress nothing final has been agreed. It’s still very much at the discussion stage.”

Construction work on Central Village, which will be built on derelict land behind Central Station between Bold Street and Renshaw Street, will start in November.

Phase one of the project includes two towers, one 25 storeys high and the other 20 storeys high. They will sit alongside two nine-storey and one five-storey buildings.

The 600,000sqft development is expected to create more than 800 jobs.

Merepark has bought other buildings in the area to control the condition of buildings near Central Village.

In April, Merepark confirmed it was in discussions about buying Rapid’s post war concrete and glass paint store building half way down Renshaw Street. The company planned to demolish the building to make way for access to Central Village, but no deal has yet been struck.

John Lewis will move from its historic Church Street premises to a new home in Grosvenor’s Liverpool One development next spring.

Marks & Spencer will then take over the building for two years while its own neighbouring store is refurbished.

Rapid take over the store in 2011 and says its move will create 200 new jobs.

alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk

If rapid are going to Lee's then perhaps rapids old building could be taken by Quiggins if they wanted it? Certainly it will lead to the regeneration of Berry Street and if new restaurants, bars and shops were to open in the old rapid building it would give the area a more distinctive feel than that at present.

[woody]

Central Village site ,2007



January start, so in 2010 it will look like.........

[Sarah]

I think the development looks great and I'm a sucker for water features! So lucky to come from a water city aren't I?

[PhilipG]

I hope Rapid's building in Renshaw Street remains.
I like it.
It's got a date of 1902 on it, and was built on the site of St Andrew's Church (which then moved to Aigburth Road).

[Kev]

It willl be a stunning addition to 'town'. I echo PhilG about the Rapid building. That side of town is quite 'tidy' these days.

[floyd]

Just a thought about the start date of the Central village project.

Part of the original deal struck by the developers when they bought the land from Network Rail was that a new depot would be provided elsewhere for railway staff who currently reside behind central station.
The council keep refusing planning permission for every site Network rail and the developers propose, so bugger all will happen in terms of building Central Village until this is resolved.

[Paul D]

LIVERPOOL’S iconic Lewis’s building has been sold.

The building has been sold for an undisclosed fee to north-west developer Merepark.

The new owners have pledged to restore the famous building to its former glory and are expected to submit a planning application for the re-development of the nine storey, 420,000 sq. ft building next month.

The new owners have also stressed the Lewis’s store will continue to trade as usual and its best known features including the Jacob Epstein statue, ‘Liverpool Resurgent’ will be preserved.

[Kev]

LIVERPOOL’S iconic Lewis’s department store is to undergo a major £30m refurbishment that will see all nine floors used for retail and leisure.

The Daily Post today reveals initial details of a vision to upgrade the Grade II listed building, as part of plans to redevelop Renshaw Street and the area around Central station. more

[scottieroader]

Good news that Central Village is getting the go - ahead, but I worry about the effect the overwhelmingly capitalist-and-consumerist-in-character scheme will have on the more bohemian and small scale character of Bold Street, and especially Newington, it would be a shame to see places like Di Scala and Egg Cafes and some of the shops on Newington and Bold Street forced out as the global corporations look to move into the area.

[scottieroader]

Central Village site ,2007



January start, so in 2010 it will look like.........

Looks alright... but they are knocking down the Newington Buildings for the sake of a few yuppies and a MacDonald's or something like that. Can they not design it so that the essential bohemian and vibrant character of the area is preserved, this will kill the urban feel of hte place

[Kev]

Dec 26 2007 by Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo

WORK is finally going to start on a cluster of glass towers behind Liverpool’s Central station – 18 months after the scheme was announced.

Developers hope the £160m Central Village complex will be on site early in the New Year so derelict land behind the former rail interchange that dates back to Victorian times can be brought back to life.

The ambitious scheme was given the go-ahead by city councillors in July 2006, with a pencilled-in start date of early 2007.

But work will now begin on the developments within the next few weeks, the beginning of a two-and-a-half year project to revitalise the Bold Street area of the city centre.

Central Village’s eye-catching feature will be two 25 and 20-storey towers, nicknamed “Tracy and Hepburn” after Hollywood legends Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, containing almost 320 apartments.

They will be joined by two nine-storey and one five-storey blocks containing more flats, offices, shops, bars and a four-star hotel.

There will also be a futuristic shallow waterfall, designed by American architect Martha Schwartz, spanned by a bridge leading into Central Village’s public square.

Developer Merepark today said the first six months of the project would involve work on the foundations, with the first visible signs to passers-by appearing in August.

With one storey a week expected to be erected, more than 400 construction workers will be on site.

Even though Central Village will not be completed until 2010, off-plan sales of one and two-bedroom apartments will start in April and May.

Meanwhile, Merepark is also pushing ahead with its plans for Lewis’s building, which backs on to the Central Village site. The iconic store, which narrowly escaped closure this year, is set to undergo a £30m refurbishment.

Merepark says its decision to buy the Lewis’s building and the neighbouring Watson’s building in November was a key part of its overall vision for the area.

Director Richard Peel said: “They will enable us to deliver a full regeneration programme for Central Village and integrate two very prominent sites into the fabric of the city.

“We are looking forward to a new future for Lewis’s, in which its building will once again play a leading part in the lives of the people of Liverpool.”

nick.coligan@liverpool.com