Liverpool Waters is a redevelopment project that will transform Liverpool’s northern docks. The project will create a world class mixed-use quarter in the city centre from mostly redundant and derelict former docks. It will also provide significant economic benefits to Liverpool and the surrounding region, including thousands of new jobs. The project will also dramatically change the city’s skyline with new office towers, hotels, and residential development.
About the Project
Liverpool Waters is a 30-year vision for the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone, one of Liverpool’s most important commercial centres. The project is led by the Peel Group, a private real estate, transport, infrastructure and media investment company based in Manchester. Liverpool Waters includes the creation of a mixed-use quarter with improved infrastructure between the city centre and the north end of the city. The regeneration project is one of the largest single-ownership, port-city development schemes in Europe according to its developer
Announced in 2007, development as part of the Liverpool Waters regeneration project is expected to take thirty to fifty years. The site’s first planning applications were submitted in 2004. Following community consultation on the proposed plans, Liverpool City Council granted planning permission for the Liverpool Waters project in 2012. The project is complemented by the Wirral Waters project on the west bank of the Mersey. The site will include a new 55-storey tower, which will become the tallest building in the North West of England.
Liverpool Waters has planning permission to deliver approximately 1.7 million square metres of development floor space. Of the approved development, Liverpool Waters will provide up to 9,000 dwellings and 733,000 square metres of residential floor space and 315,000 square metres of business space according to the Peel Group. Much of the site’s business space will be offices. Planning permission also includes the development of two new public parks and 18 squares throughout the site, as well as a cruise liner terminal and an energy centre. The site will also include a range of other uses, including hotel and conference facilities, restaurants and cafes, pubs and wine bars, leisure facilities, and food and non-food shops.
Location
Liverpool Waters involves the regeneration and redevelopment of approximately 60 hectares of historic dockland. The site is located within the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone, one of the UK Government’s flagship enterprise zones that also includes the Wirral Waters project. The development extends 2.3 kilometres in length from the Princes Dock in the south to Bramley-Moore Dock in the north. To the west is the River Mersey, with one-third of the site including open water docks. The site is already home to several start-ups as well as leading businesses, including KMPG, PWC and Coutts.
Much of the Liverpool Waters development includes the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Liverpool Waters includes several docks, including Bramley-Moore, Nelson, Salisbury, Collingwood, Princes Half Tide and Princes. It also incorporates the Liverpool Canal Link, which includes Trafalgar Dock, Clarence Dock, East Waterloo Dock and West Waterloo Dock. The site also features existing residential units and the Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre that will be incorporated into the broader master plan for the Liverpool Waters project.
Economic Benefits
The £5 billion Liverpool Waters project is expected to provide significant employment and training opportunities for the city and surrounding region. According to the Peel Group, Liverpool Waters is expected to create approximately 17,000 full-time jobs. In addition to providing 2 million square feet of new commercial and residential space, the development will provide new apartments to boost Liverpool’s housing stock. It will also include four hotels to support the city’s tourism industry.
Liverpool Waters is part of the Atlantic Gateway project, a scheme involving more than 50 projects. The project is also known as the Ocean Gateway strategy and is led by the Peel Group. The £50 billion development initiative has the potential to add approximately 250,000 new jobs in the North East of England over fifty years. In addition to redeveloping the Port of Liverpool and the Liverpool Waters project, the Atlantic Gateway initiative will include the redevelopment of the Manchester Ship Canal and the Wirral Waters project in Birkenhead.
More Information
The vision and master plan for the Liverpool Waters project is available online. For additional information about the project, visit www.liverpoolwaters.co.uk. For more information about the Atlantic Gateway initiative, visit www.atlanticgateway.co.uk.