BCEGI lined up for £80m Liverpool tower
Beijing Construction & Engineering Group International is set to be named main contractor on Moda Living’s 35-storey The Lexington PRS development in Liverpool, Place North West understands.
BCEGI is understood to have had a pre-construction arrangement with Moda since October 2017 and is close to being formally appointed as main contractor on the scheme.
The Lexington, at 35 storeys, is the tallest of three major towers planned for the £5bn Liverpool Waters development. It will deliver 325 apartments for private rent, alongside 15,000 sq ft of amenity space, a roof terrace, and a gym.
It is being funded by Moda in a joint venture with Apache Capital Partners, and has been designed by architect Falconer Chester Hall.
Plans were approved for the project in September 2016, and a planning amendment was lodged in July last year to add an extra storey to the building and to increase the number of apartments from the originally planned 304 to 325.
Carillion was rumoured to be in negotiations on the project in early 2017 but talks never progressed beyond this stage.
A start date has yet to be confirmed by either Moda or BCEGI but it is understood work will get under way in the first half of the year.
Two other projects are planned in the immediate vicinity: the 15-storey, £21m Plaza 1821, which is being built by Forrest for clients Peel Land & Property and Regenda Group; and Hive City Docks, a 31-storey tower for Your Housing Group, which is yet to start on site.
The Lexington signals a major potential win for the company in what would be its first project in Liverpool and its first outside Manchester. The contractor is already working on the first two phases of the £700m Middlewood Locks PRS development for Scarborough Group and Fairbriar International, and is main contractor for Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development in the city.
It is also a construction partner on Manchester Airport Group’s Airport City development.
BCEGI is understood to be hiring more staff to work in a new Liverpool office to help deliver the scheme.
Alongside The Lexington, the contractor has also been shortlisted in partnership with Scarborough Group for a £1bn waterfront regeneration plan for Wirral Council. It is competing with Muse in partnership with Morgan Sindall; a joint venture between Ion and Keepmoat were also previously on the list but dropped out.
Moda and BCEGI declined to comment.
