A FIVE-STAR hotel, complete with a rooftop public viewing platform, is to be built on the most sensitive building site in Liverpool, just yards from the Pier Head.
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London-based developers Lead Asset Strategies are within days of signing up a big-name five-star operator for the hotel which will form the centrepiece of a £130m development at Princes Dock.
A 25-storey tower block, housing luxury apartments above a double-storey glass- fronted ground floor will stand next to the new hotel.
The site, between the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the riverfront, is regarded as the most sensitive in Liverpool because of its closeness to the Unesco World Heritage Site.
Talks between Lead and national heritage and conservation bodies have led to an original plan, submitted last summer, being completely redrawn.
City council planners and the city's regeneration company, Liverpool Vision, have also been involved in the discussions.
Liverpool Vision has welcomed a scheme for the site but insists the critical factor will be the quality and finish of the proposed buildings.
A spokesman for Lead's architect, London-based John Lyall, said: "The design has emerged following a lengthy period of discussion with the city council, Vision, English Heritage and CABE (The Commission for Architect and the Built Environment)."
The plans are said to respect and preserve key views of the waterfront and its world-famous architecture, describing the site as of "unique significance".
The scheme is expected to create 300 jobs, 180 in the hotel and 120 in the proposed retail and commercial floorspace.
Lead has now handed its revised plans to the city council for assessment and a decision by the city council's planning committee, expected to be in the autumn.
Lead, headed by business tycoon Raj Basu, propose a 224-room five-star hotel in a building ranging from 11 to 13 floors. There will be an 800 sq metre business centre, health centre and spa and a free public viewing area reached by a scenic lift. There will be a restaurant and function space on the top floors.
The scheme also includes a subterranean car park on three levels for 380 vehicles.
Lead say in their submission: "We are committed to the delivery of a five-star hotel and are in advanced negotiations with suitable operators."
The scheme also includes a U-shaped 12-storey high residential block containing 264 apartments, with one, two or three bedrooms.
Towering above those two structures will be a 25-storey building, with 120 apartments on the top 22 floors.
They will offer what will rate as among the best views of the city and the river, directly overlooking the world-famous waterfront with the Three Graces.
At ground level there will be a centrepiece public piazza, with the extended Leeds-Liverpool Canal cutting through the site. Although a number of four-star hotels have opened in recent years, and more are in the pipeline, this will be the first large- scale five-star operation in the city.
An 80-room five-star boutique hotel is being developed at the former Municipal Annexe, in Dale Street.
The site will overlook the new cruise liner terminal currently under construction.
Raj Bafu, managing director of Lead Asset Strategy, said: "We're delighted to be moving ahead with this international quality scheme on one of Europe's premier development sites.
"It will be a fitting place for what will be the city's first five-star hotel."
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