Major plans for new offices and green space in Liverpool’s business district are being brought back to life as council agrees to pump in £15 million
16:44, 23 May 2025Updated 17:29, 23 May 2025
Plans for a major new office development and an urban park in Liverpool city centre are back on the agenda
A major development of new Grade A office space and a new urban park in Liverpool city centre is set to get back on track with a £15 million investment package.
Liverpool City Council’s cabinet is expected to agree a major funding plan for the previously stalled Pall Mall development scheme in the heart of the city’s commercial district. An investment of £15m has been secured from central government in response to a Strategic Futures report which looked at potential investments for the future of Liverpool’s economy.
The council-owned site was remediated in 2020 and a masterplan was developed proposing three large office buildings and a hotel surrounded by new green space. But the plans stalled and the site has remained vacant and fenced off ever since.
If the new £15m injection is approved by council’s cabinet and the government, the aim would be to complete the phase one of the £55m scheme – including an 8-storey office with a new urban park – by summer 2028. This would make it the first Grade A office development in 16 years in the city’s business district.
Kier Property Developments Ltd are the appointed developer and have gained planning consent for phase one to deliver 111,500 sq ft of office space, including ground floor retail units, and a 0.5 hectare green space.
The council says the proposed new building would be highly energy efficient, with the developer targeting it to become the first operationally net-zero office building in the Liverpool City Region.
The site used to include the much-loved Bixteth Street Gardens, which was a popular and rare city centre green space. There were protests and strong objections when this space was fenced off ahead of planned building work for an original Pall Mall scheme back in 2019.
The council-owned site was then flattened and remediated, with the plans for three office buildings and a hotel approved. But the work to create these buildings never started, with viability issues and the post-pandemic drop in office demand blamed for the project stalling. The site has remained fenced off and dormant ever since.
But the council believes getting this scheme up and running is vital and so has decided to pump the public sector cash in to help get it back off the ground. Phase one of the scheme is seen as critical to stimulating the remaining phases of the scheme as well as Liverpool’s office supply. Only 5% of high-quality office stock is now available in the city.
City centre councillors Christine Banks and Nick Small (also a cabinet member) pose next to the Pall Mall site that is earmarked for a major development
Pall Mall also lies within the proposed area for the new Locally Led Urban Development Corporation which the council, working with government, is looking to use to create an accelerated development zone, the implementation of which will be overseen by the recently appointed Imagine Liverpool regeneration partnership board.
The cabinet report, which will be discussed on Tuesday June 4, also proposes the council uses its covenant strength as owner of the site to provide a rent guarantee for 15 years on any unlet space to help improve development value.
Councillor Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet member for Growth and Development, said: “This proposed investment would not just bring forward a top-quality Grade A office scheme and a new urban park in our business district, it will act as a catalyst to stimulate investor confidence in the city.
“We need to address the office supply and commercial rent catch-22 Liverpool has found itself in. Demand is now rising following the post-pandemic slump and we need to take advantage of that by unlocking supply.
“The Pall Mall scheme is oven-ready and could be open for business within three years, helping Liverpool to retain and attract major companies. Our Strategic Futures programme was designed exactly for the purpose of oiling the wheels of economic growth, which is exactly what this development would do.”
Speaking to the ECHO, Cllr Small added: “I think we need to create a destination on this site where people will choose to come and work and open space will be vital to that.
“I think we have got a much better development than the one we were looking at six years ago. I am really excited about what this will mean for Liverpool and for jobs in the city.”
The cabinet member said the Pall Mall development will hopefully lead to the expansion and regeneration of the city’s business district. He added: “This is just the start with Pall Mall, it is phase one – we want to look at the whole wider site including the NCP car park and other areas that can be developed. We want to see an expansion of the business district and a new commercial district for Liverpool.
“It has been a long time since we built any new Grade A office space in the city centre and it is desperately needed. What we are talking about is a new neighbourhood in the city centre, where people can live and work including new public realm and green space. We will even look at holding markets and events in the area in the future.”
Leigh Thomas, Group managing director of Kier Property said: “The city council has been a staunch advocate for the Pall Mall scheme and the report outlines our joint recognition that there is an acute need for highly sustainable new grade A office space that meets the needs of the modern workforce.”
“The steps being proposed to address the viability challenge are both very positive and necessary. As development partner, we remain fully committed to regenerating the Pall Mall site and look forward to continuing to work with Liverpool City Council’s team as we seek to bring forward the first phase of this priority scheme.”