Twin Residential Block project
Liverpool construction then and now update.
I’m going to take a look at some of the construction projects featured in previous. See how they’ve progressed, in many cases being completed and in other cases either delayed or abandoned, as we’ll see. This is Lime Street and St George’s Hall seen mid-2021
Work on the new city centre connectivity scheme was progressing but then one of the companies went bust and the work had to be suspeneded for a while. Thankfully it was completed during 2022 and the area in front of Lime Street Station is looking very good indeed, though not all aspects of the original plan were adopted. Buses for instance continue to run in both directoins on Lime Street, plans for a ‘reflective pool’ water feature were scrapped. That’s probably for the best.
My advice to towns and cities: Don’t build water features! There are now dedicated cycle lanes separated from the road, though I saw some cylists still using the road. A very nice aspect of the newly remodelled St George’s Plateau are these benches which have tiles in the style of the Minton floor inside St George’s Hall. Within the beautiful patterns and colours we can see symbols including The Liver Bird, the English red rose, the Scottish thistle, the Three Feathers with the motto in German. Ich dien - I serve, and sixteen shamrocks! The former Northwestern Hotel opened in 1871. In recent years it became a student residence, but now it’s a hotel again - the Radisson. RED Liverpool Hotel. Renovation plans were thrown into doubt when the developer went into administration - oh no, not again! - but the project was later picked up by different developers. With the scaffolding removed, the facade looks magnificent, especially in the bright afternoon sunshine.
Now let’s go round the corner and take a look at the Natex construction site. This is how it looked on the 13th of August 2021 and this is how it looks today. What’s going on here, not another stalled construction site, surely? The two south facing elevations look the same too. But I did notice some activity on site when to make this article when. I visited on 4 November 2022, so something is happening. This luxury 566 bedroom student accommodation was developed by Mount Property Group and aha!, their name has been blotted out with some black masking tape - not very professional. Now it’s the ‘plank of wood’ property group. So what happened? An SPV attached to Mount Property Group collapsed.
Administrators sold the property to a new company for £14.1m and it will be rebranded as Limelight. It’s hoped it will be ready for the autumn 2023 student intake. Information from the Liverpool Echo. And just in case you’re wondering, SPV stands for Special Purpose Vehicle, not one with four wheels, but a company set up to achieve one specific purpose, in this case, the completion of a construction project. Why set up an SPV? In short, if the SPV goes bust, the parent company doesn’t. I interrupt this article to bring you a newsflash. A group of investors has bought the Infinity development on Leeds Street, originally by. Elliot Group.
It has planning permission for 1000 apartments. Information from Place North West. So try doing a search for Elliott Lawless.
It makes very interesting reading and might
Explain a few things! i’m going to follow the infinity project to its completion, so keep watching aidaneyewitness.
In my 2021 article I photographed this development on Devon street between London Rd and Islington. In 2022, the scaffolding has gone but construction has ceased. Another abandoned site. I can find no information on it but we know the story.
There are a lot of abandoned construction sites in Liverpool, that’s clear, and it’s more than in other cities. Why does one project go well and another goes bust? I’m not sure but it sends out a very negative message about the city. I highlighted this stalled project, the Fabric Village. I had hoped it could have been picked up and construction might have been in progress, but no, it’s exactly in the same state as last year. The only work carried out here has been by the graffiti artiss. Property firm YPG had high ambitions for the Fabric Village, it could have been great, but they went bust, and we can see is the rusting framework of a building I assume will never be built. Things are very different further downtown on the street named Pall Mall, closer to the heart of the city and not far from the financial district. In 2021 I passed by this newly commenced site on Pall Mall on the corner of Prussia Street.
This is how it looks today, and it’s looking very impressive. This is the Pall Mall Twin Residential Block project. This visualisation seen from Pall Mall shows how the completed project will look. As we can see it’s well advanced. In 15 months, an empty plot has been transformed into major residential development in its final stages, the taller block rising 17 floors above street level. And just checking the sign: Then: developer: Graham, architects Falconer Chester Hall. Now: no change. Thank goodness for that.
No black gaffer tape or wooden masking boards needed here. On the other side of the street, no sign of construction on another development, but the the Pall Mall Twin Residential Block project is rising up into the sky and can be seen around the city centre. Completion is scheduled for 2023. Our final project is the conversion of Liverpool Municipal Buildings, which were sold in 2017 by Liverpool City Council in to the Singapore-based Fragrance Group. This magnificent Grade II* building which dates from 1868, is being converted into a four star hotel. The architecture is magnificent, the clock tower a familiar landmark on the city centre skyline. It’s an ideal setting for a luxury hotel. The developers have stated that the restoration has been carried out with huge care and attention to the building.
An extension within the complex has been designed by architects Falconer Chester Hall. Are they going to keep that superb Liverpool coat of arms sbove the main entrance, which. I photographed from close up back in 2005. Well, if they don’t wants it, can I have it? I