The city council has agreed to use £15m of government funding to get the first phase of an office development in the central business district away, a move the authority hopes will boost investor sentiment.
Place North West revealed at the end of May that Liverpool City Council had put together a strategy to deliver the 111,000 sq ft first office at Pall Mall, which had stalled due to viability constraints.
At a meeting on Tuesday evening, the council’s cabinet rubber-stamped the plan, which also includes a rental guarantee to increase the investment value of the asset.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for growth and development, said the scheme would be the first new-build grade A space in the CBD for 13 years.
He added that the lack of development over recent years had “damaged inward investment confidence [and] supressed office rental growth”.
Of the big nine regional cities only Cardiff has a lower headline rent than Liverpool’s £29/sq ft.
As well as missing out on new arrivals to the city, Small said there is a “threat” of losing existing businesses approaching lease events.
“There is a critical situation in the city where we don’t have enough grade A office space and that is damaging the current and future prospects of the city,” he said.