English Cities Fund presses on with Liverpool redevelopment despite recession

Despite the current unstable condition of the  UK commercial property market, the English Cities Fund is continuing to press on with the redevelopment of Liverpool city centre.

They have just begun work on the third and final phase of the scheme at St Paul’s Square, which will consist of more than 109,000 square feet of office space. Many believe securing £8.8 million in funding has been the main factor behind the start of this part of the scheme but the fund claim they have put a large amount amount of their own money into the scheme too. The funding was secured from the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Northwest European Regional Development Fund.

The English Cities Fund is made up of Muse Developments, the Homes and Communities Agency and Legal & General. They are aiming to complete the scheme by May 2011 and are hoping to set a new headline rent in the city of £22 per square foot, up from the current £20 per square foot.

DTZ believe the fund is re-starting the scheme at exactly the right time. Chris Lloyd, Office Agency Associate Director at DTZ in Liverpool said; “The timing is exactly right. In two years’ time, ECF could find itself with the only new quality space with large footplates, not only in Liverpool, but in the whole of the North West”.

This could be the latest sign that confidence is returning to the Liverpool office market. A joint venture between developer Ashley Moore and Desmond Wilson has just won detailed planning consent for its £70 million, 228,000 square foot Pall Mall office development.

At present there is a wide choice of Grade A office space available in Liverpool, at schemes such as 20 Chapel Street and St Paul’s Square Phase 2, but DTZ predicts that within 2 years there will be a shortage due to a current lack of development. 

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