Liverpool revises King’s Dock development strategy
The city council has asked for funding from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to draw up plans for a residential-led, mixed-use scheme on eight acres of waterfront land, with the intention of selling the plots once planning consent is secured.
Liverpool City Council has had full legal title and ownership of King’s Dock since 2017 when it acquired the remaining vacant development plots from Homes England on a 999-year lease for £4.1m.
In 2020, the city council announced its intention to adopt a ‘managed disposal approach’ towards the remaining seven plots. This proposed selling the plots without planning consent, effectively relinquishing control of what would ultimately be built on the dock.
Bids were received from 20 developers and eight were shortlisted. However, the process was discontinued due to the pandemic.
The city council has now reviewed its King’s Dock strategy, and plans to adopt a ‘managed design approach’. This, the authority believes, will afford it greater control of what is ultimately delivered in terms of design quality and social value.
In addition, by selling the sites with planning consent in place, the city council could reasonably expect to achieve higher returns than if it disposed of the land without planning permission.
A report to Liverpool’s cabinet to be discussed next week says that King’s Dock is “the city’s clearest opportunity to reach an international standard in design and development”.
The city council will sell the sites once it has received planning permission. Credit: via Liverpool City Council
The report adds that the change in approach to development at King’s Dock is “a clear statement of intent in terms of placemaking, high-quality design, and development”.
To progress the plan, the city council has applied for a £1m grant from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to appoint a masterplanner and development planner to “design the place, undertake investigations and secure outline planning permission,” the report states.
“Only at this point would the council dispose of the individual sites for development by carefully selected partners,” the report adds.
The planning and design work could take up to 24 months and the council expects to be ready to market the sites for disposal from November 2023 onwards.
The next phases of regeneration at King’s Dock follow several major developments in the area. These include the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool Exhibition Centre, a 1,450-space multi-storey car park, 1,800 homes, and three hotels.
It will be interesting to see what height restrictions they impose on these plots, if any potential developer has to meet the councils highest international standard aspirations but are confined in units per plot and high standards are the required criteria either they will be very expensive or very few. Also will the mixed commercial element be complimentary to the Arena and exhibition centre “Et al”?
By Liverpolitis
Ha! so after all the years of delay, we have more delay, and new master-planning and design standards, plus more reports, also the new criteria “social value” as a means of deterring developers. In this way city councillors will reject anything over 8 stories or deviates from the local “style”, or contravenes the current “affordability” mantra.
By Anonymous
Why does everything take so long in Liverpool. Two years before development can commence. Really
By David D
This council couldn’t develop a cold never mind this.
By On the Dock
Yet again, Labour determined to hem in opportunity. This prime city centre land should be for exhibition centre expansion. Industry related to it at the very least.
They really have no business running a major city, they are utterly out of their depth.
By Jeff
I don’t trust liverpool council to run or organise anything
By Stuart wood
There should be a sports venue
By Anonymous
LCC have emotions too you know!!!1
By Anonymous
Not going to happen.
By Cal
Given the arena and exhibition centre the balance of this development is critical. Purely residential is inappropriate.
By TJL
This is sad. They had commercially viable interest from developers who would have delivered a viable scheme. Now you have a council trying to play developer and designing something they haven’t a clue is viable “to add value to the sale of the plots”. This will end with said developers having to redesign and resubmit the schemes for it to be viable. More delay. And 8 (or 20?) disgruntled bidders who put time, effort and ££ in to a process that is now being aborted.
By Scott
LCC have not got a clue
By Anonymous
It’ll be interesting to see what comes from their search for “an international standard” in terms of “place-making” and “design”. Past performance suggests that we’re likely to be disappointed. I know I’m a dinosaur, but (with the honorable exception of Paddy’s Wigwam) I struggle to think of even one single building from the past 50 years that Liverpool might want to retain.
By matthew jones