Liverpool calls for development partner at Festival Gardens
The 28-acre site is strategically important to the city council, which hopes to award a contract to a developer by October 2025.
Festival Gardens, a brownfield site, is ten minutes from Liverpool city centre and key part of Liverpool City Council’s wider housing strategy.
As of last year, the development was for up to 1,500 homes.
Plans were designed by architects Shedkm and Metropolitan Workshop, with Mace and Montagu Evans as fellow consultants.
Liverpool City Council’s objectives are to deliver “a scheme of exemplar design quality place-making and sustainability,” according to a report for a cabinet meeting next week.
Developing the plot could add up to £300m in gross development value to the city, according to a spokesperson for the city council.
The procurement strategy focuses on minimising risk by adopting a contractual agreement, which will allow the city council to retain a level of influence over the development outcomes, including the timescale and quality.
Through encouraging competitive dialogue, the city council hopes bidders will revise and review their ideas to ensure the highest quality.
Maximising the development potential of the site is key, and flexibility and engagement with the market are essential for its realisation, according to the report.
Emphasis has also been placed on securing a commercial return for the council’s land interest.
Funding has been made possible through Homes England, Liverpool City Council, and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Some work has already been completed – a 20-acre space became Liverpool’s newest park, the Southern Grasslands, in August 2023.
This landscaped space has more than 5,700 trees, as well as 1.2 miles of footpaths.
The full site was previously landfill and so required significant remediation to enable viable development, undertaken by VINCI Building.
Remediating the site began in 2021 and finished in January 2024 – a process that required moving 450,000 cubic metres of soil.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “This is another milestone on the journey to transforming Festival Gardens into a vibrant, inclusive community that will be cherished by generations to come.
“Now we’re ready to work with a partner who shares our vision to turn this prime waterfront site into a beacon of sustainable living.”
Leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Liam Robinson, said: “The extensive remediation work is another piece in the puzzle, and we’re now in a position to go out to the market and invite developers to share with us their viable vision which will be transformative for the area and the city as a whole.”
The timetable for the project is as follows:
- First week of October 2024 – Launch of procurement
- 6 weeks – to mid November 2024 – Selection Questionnaire and Evaluation
- 16 weeks – to mid February 2025 – Outline solutions – invitation to submit, deadline and evaluation period
- 14 weeks – to end of May 2025 – Full dialogue period
- 1 week – end of May 2025 – Call for final tenders
- 4 weeks – end of June 2025 – Final tender deadline
- 5 weeks – end of July 2025 – Final tender evaluation and bidder selection process
- 8 weeks – end of September – Legal negotiation
- October 2025 – Contract award (cabinet decision)
Again?
By Tannoy
The strategic issue for Liverpool with regards to housing is that there are insufficient homes in the higher tax bands, meaning more of the burden of funding the council’s activity falls on the shoulders of lower band taxpayers.
This is a perfect opportunity to increase the number of high value homes, but it’s a racing certainty that the opportunity will be missed. The clue’s in the word ‘inclusive’.
By Anonymous
1984.
By Anonymous
A developer? It’s a fairy Godmother they need !
By Anonymous
Very slow progress on this project, although to be fair the remediation work hasn’t been easy. The fear now is that it turns out like Brookside type development instead of a quality design of both houses and flats, and by the way what does an inclusive community mean because if they’re thinking of putting rented social housing next to high priced accommodation then that will be a turn off.
By Anonymous
Perfect spot for high end homes , as other poster have said .Liverpool needs to increase the number of higher council tax houses to diversify its economy , provide income to the council allowing it to support services to deprived communities and keep high earners/ spenders in the city . Plenty of sites for more needed affordable or social homes elsewhere.
By George
The timetable sounds like a recipe of paralysis by analysis. 40 years on,
By Rodney Street
This is a fantastic site and needs to be treated as one its a one off opportunity , riverside location that needs to have exemplary design and materials. No problem with affordable housing but we do have lots of brownfield sites that cam be utilised. Can we please accept this is a prime location and should be treated as such the city has an opportunity to have high value homes its no shame to have higher earners and tax bands in our city . Please lets not blow this fantastic site trying to tick every inclusive box do it somewhere else in the city .
By Paul M
Perfect spot for bungalows and extra care for the elderly, not fancy apartments for brats
By Anonymous
Unbelievable that they spent so much on remediation without any plan for securing a return on their investment. Of course no one will be held accountable for this appalling waste of money.
By Resident
This is right next to a Merseyrail station in a desirable area. this should be a high density, high quality mixed use development, don’t let it become cul-de-sacs of bungalows like so much of Liverpool’s riverside has been wasted on.
By Anonymous
It would be really interesting to know what LCR Mayor Steve Rotheram would define ‘a beacon of sustainable living’ to be! Does he mean that all the homes will have large gardens where all the residents will be expected to grow their own food and be barred from venturing out of the ‘inclusive community’ to do their weekly shop? I suspect to that the ‘community’ will be expected to live ‘off grid too’. This site is a really prime site and it would be great to see a really good mix of homes suitable for a whole range of earners giving space for all and using some imaginative designs, not just your standard boxes! The site deserves the best in design.
By Brendan R
This has gone on forever..what a shambles
By Tony
Liverpool is once again missing an opportunity with the festival gardens site. This is a prime waterfront location and should be used for the benefit of everybody in the city, not just a few housebuyers. It just takes a bit of imagination. For instance why didn’t Liverpool put in a bid for the Eden Project of the North instead of letting it go to Morecambe? Or why not invite the RHS to build a garden facility there as they’ve done with Tatton Park? Most inland cities would do anything to have the waterfront locations that we have like we have bit we are just wasting them. Other than the Co-op Area we’ve done very little with it other than build apartments – luckily the Three Graces and the Albert Dock were already there otherwise they would be houses too! This shows a major lack of imagination on the part of Steve Rotherham and Liverpool City Council. Maybe they would find it useful to send a delegation to Baltimore, Boston, Barcelona and Amsterdam to look at how other areas of riverfront have been regenerated to get some ideas.
By Steve