All we know so far on the huge project including the city’s new tallest buildingDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
21:53, 18 Oct 2025
The draft image of the vision for the King Edward Triangle skyscraper project.(Image: Liverpool Council / Beetham / KEIE Limited)
A major £1bn development scheme which could change the face of Liverpool’s waterfront took a major step forward this week. The King Edward Triangle project could see nearly 3,000 homes and 400 hotel rooms created in a cluster of skyscrapers on land known as the King Edward Triangle, close to The Strand.
A number of businesses currently operate in the triangle but Peel – which previously owned the land as part of its Liverpool Waters project – sold it to KEIE Limited last April, after Liverpool City Council agreed to a £1.5m deal to lift a covenant on the Gibraltar Row site and enable the construction of skyscrapers.
KEIE Limited, part of the TJ Morris group which owns Home Bargains, is working with Hugh Frost, whose Beetham Organisation built the 40-floor West Tower in the city centre, on the project. Those behind the proposals have promised to include the city’s first five-star hotel as part of a 60-storey tower that is set to be Liverpool’s tallest building. Liverpool does not currently have a hotel rated as five-star by AA’s industry recognised ratings.
Alongside this, a major new 25,000 sq ft events arena could also take shape in the coming years.
On Tuesday, Liverpool Council agreed to sign off on the sale of land at Great Howard Street, including land within the site of the proposed development to KEIE, which owns the balance of the freehold. Here, we bring you all we know so far about the project.
The King Edward Triangle is one of the five neighbourhoods of Liverpool Waters, alongside Central Docks, Clarence Docks, Princes Dock and Northern Docks. The full site stretches from the northern edge of Liverpool city centre to Bramley-Moore Dock, where Everton FC’s new stadium has been built.
A CGI of the £1bn development, viewed from the Wirral shoreline, was released in February. It showed a number of towers and illustrates the scale of the project team’s ambition, said Beetham’s Hugh Frost.
How the King Edward project could look, including a new tallest building in Liverpool(Image: T. J. Morris Ltd and Beetham Limited)
About that, Mr Frost said in February: “Our thinking will continue to evolve as we head towards a Q3 submission for our masterplan, but this image lets the market know that we are intent on delivering a scheme of international significance.”
The West Tower is currently the tallest building in Liverpool, standing at 40 storeys. However, project architect Chris Bolland of Brock Carmichael said in February the King Edward project could see buildings go beyond 50 storeys.
He explained: “What you see here shows our confidence that going beyond 50 storeys is achievable and desirable and our discussions to date with the city council have been highly constructive.”
At the MIPIM property fair in Cannes in March, KEIE and Beetham revealed plans for Liverpool’s first five-star hotel within a 60-storey tower, which would eclipse the West Tower.
They said the scheme will include two hotels, totalling 400 bedrooms, with the aim of targeting a global operator to provide a five-star brand which will also offer luxury branded residences within a single tower of up to 60-storeys or more.
The developers also said they wish to involve skyscraper designers Simpson Haugh in their first Liverpool building.
At the time, Mr Frost said: “We are creating a destination and a new district in the city centre and the mix and quality of uses and operators will be key to its success.”
He added: “A waterfront of Liverpool’s quality deserves only the best and we are here talking to hoteliers about how we can give them the setting to showcase their brand for the first time in the Liverpool market.
“The growth in the city’s high-end tourism market, particularly cruise passengers, gives us the confidence that this will succeed.”
A planning application was submitted in June for a 28-storey, 255-unit building to form part of the development. And last month Davos and Beetham submitted plans seeking permission to demolish a collection of unlisted buildings around the northern boundary of the eight-acre city centre site.
Four blocks of buildings on Roberts Street, and at 1 Greenock Street, 11 -14 Waterloo Road (the former Greek restaurant) and the martial arts building adjacent to the former King Edward pub site would all be demolished.
The report that went before Liverpool Council’s cabinet this week revealed more exciting plans for the project – which city bosses could be as pivotal as Liverpool One. It detailed more of what is anticipated to be created at the major mixed-use development site, including around 2,750 new homes and over 400 hotel rooms of a 4 and 5* standard.
According to the report, there are also plans for around 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and 250,000 sq ft of commercial, leisure, retail and food and drink space as well as 1,800,000 sq ft of covered parking – with the whole project knitted together by more than 400,000 sq ft of public realm.
But perhaps the most eye-catching addition to the plans, detailed in the report, is the mention of a new “destination arena” of up to 25,000 sq ft.
There are no further details provided about how a new arena could look or what purpose it would serve at present and it may not be a traditional arena in the style of the M&S Bank one further down the waterfront, the ECHO understands.
But city bosses are very excited about the impact the overall King Edward development could have on Liverpool and its economic fortunes.
The report stated: “The proposed mixed use development will substantially increase council tax and rates revenue for the city. It will create a new destination to support the diversification of the wider economy.”
King Edward Industrial Estate(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Speaking about the King Edward plans to the ECHO earlier this year, Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool Council’s cabinet member for Growth and Economy stressed just what an enormous project this could be for the city centre and the whole of Liverpool.
He said: “What we have got with the King Edward Triangle is a London-scale development in Liverpool. It is the first billion pound development scheme in Liverpool.
“It is residential-led, there is the potential to do about 2,000 housing units. This is about looking at how we get good quality, long-term investment in Liverpool.
“You look at someone like TJ Morris, they are looking at putting their wealth back into Liverpool, they will have a long term perspective on this, they are not in it for short-term gain and that’s really important.
“It is similar to what happened with Liverpool One and Grosvenor which made Liverpool One as good as it was, it wasn’t about short termism.
“It is also about having a five star hotel in Liverpool and some of the operators looking are big names, serious players that we need in this city.”