The Paradise Street Project (also known as Liverpool One)
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Liverpool grew from a market town to become the most famous trading city in the world.
Once one of the UK's major shopping centres, Liverpool's importance declined during the 1990's. This happened because of competition from our regional rivals and the growth of out-of-town retail centres such as The Trafford Centre near Manchester and Cheshire Oaks in Ellesmere Port.
However, Liverpool's economy has improved a great deal since 2000. Its citizens have more money to spend, and we now have the chance to re-establish Liverpool as a premier retail destination where they can spend their money.
Grosvenor's £1billion million rebuilding of the Paradise Street area has been underway since October 2004. The largest retail scheme in Europe, it will have over 1.6 million square feet of new shopping space. It will also improve access to the Albert Dock, creating a much-needed link between the waterfront and the city centre.
The 42.5 acre scheme will contain over 30 individually designed buildings. The largest of these will be a 240,000 sq ft John Lewis department store, the chain's largest in the North West.
This will be joined by Debenhams, two hotels, a gallery, new bus station, new public park, cinema and parking for 3,000 vehicles.
Phase 1 opened in May 2008, with phase 2 scheduled to open in September 2008, and the final phase in early 2009.
Why is it needed and what has Liverpool City Council done to make it happen?
In the late 1990's, Liverpool's City Centre had the potential to help the economic regeneration of the Merseyside sub-region and the Northwest as a whole. But, at that time, this was not being properly used.
We knew that things could be done to help Liverpool regain its position as a major shopping centre. However, to do this, we needed to understand how the existing retail centre worked and what was needed to make it work even better in the future.
The Council asked retail experts Healey & Baker to assess what type of shops the City Centre both had and would need to help it to attract more shoppers. This study, published in 1999, found that there was a need for 1 million square feet of additional retail floor space.
The Paradise Street Development Area (PSDA) was chosen as the best place for this because of its closeness to the existing retail area, its poor physical condition, its historic importance, and its potential to regenerate nearby areas.
Talks began with the Council's key partners, including Liverpool Vision and Merseytravel, the retail industry and the general public. The Council's planning policy was changed, and following a Public Inquiry, the area's designation for mixed use including retail was successfully added to the Liverpool Unitary Development Plan, (LUDP).
We realised how important our role as a major landowner of the key sites within the development area would be. From the start, we knew it would be difficult to deal with a large number of individual sites, talking to several owners and developers. Each would have different retail needs, objectives and ways of working.
What we needed was a coordinated and flexible approach through one major developer who would be responsible for the one, large scheme. Our officers therefore worked with Council Members and our partners such as Liverpool Vision to find a long term developer partner. We needed someone who understood the City, its heritage and recent past. They had to be someone with whom we could evolve a scheme for the area which all relevant agencies and the general public would agree to.
Over 30 international developers responded to the brief issued by the City Council in 2000. Grosvenor - owned by the Duke of Westminster - was the company finally chosen as the development partner.
New ways of working were agreed. These resulted in the Council being able to work as an equal partner with Grosvenor to improve the Masterplan for the PSDA.
Discussions continued at Member Working Groups, design workshops and open meetings. These continued the successful community engagement programme which had been started by Liverpool Vision.
A planning application was submitted. This was later revised in both October 2001 and March 2002 after more comments had been received from people offering fresh ideas and solutions to problems. The scheme won final approval by the Planning Committee in September 2002.
Moving forward
Liverpool One is one of the largest and most complex redevelopment projects the Council has been involved in. The £920 million scheme plays an important role in Liverpool's wider regeneration strategy for tackling issues of poverty, equality and unemployment. It is also one of the main objectives of Liverpool Vision's "Strategic Framework for the City Centre".
Liverpool One will help to improve the local economy. Having so many new shops and businesses clustered together will create hundreds of new jobs for local people, thus benefitting all local communities around the city.
The project is transforming a large part of the city centre which had been semi-derelict since World War II and partially cleared in the 1970s for redevelopment that never happened. This major investment is already encouraging other owners of nearby buildings to improve their own shops and offices, or to look at how they can bring empty buildings back into use - and make a profit by doing so.
Consultation has been an important element to the success of Liverpool One. By working closely with Grosvenor, Liverpool Vision, local shops, firms, business leaders, Elected Members - and with open discussions and meetings with the public, we have met the needs of Best Value. This is a system which measures how well we have performed.
This success was assured when our approach led to a successful outcome in the Liverpool Unitary Development Plan Inquiry. At this, the the government allowed us to change our city's future plan to include the scheme. Also, the Deputy Prime Minister decided not to intervene in our approval of the planning application. This gave further support to the way we had handled things.
Liverpool City Council's approach is now seen as one of the best examples of leading edge urban regeneration. The media has praised both us and the scheme on many occasions. Our success was also shown as a major case study at a European retail conference in Turin. This helped to raise the profile of Liverpool as a "premier European City".
What the scheme will contain:
The Paradise Street site has been divided into six zones. Each zone will have its own character:-
- Paradise Street will become a wide avenue for pedestrians. At one end will be a host of major high-street names. Pavement cafes and leisure activities will make this area look and feel very busy. This will also appeal to younger shoppers.
- Hanover Street will focus on lifestyle. It will have a clutter of homeware shops. Some of these will be behind the renovated frontages of existing buildings. The area will also have a street market, BBC Radio Merseyside, Friends Meeting House and Herbert's Hair Salon Training School.
- Peter's Lane is seen as a designer-led area. It will have two new squares, narrow streets and traditional arcades. The range of shops will attract people who like clothes and fashion.
- South John Street, at the heart of the development, will have things for the whole family to enjoy. There will be a new Debenhams, and a range of well-known stores selling music, books, children's goods and fashion items. Shops will be on two levels.
- The Park, where the existing Chavasse Park used to be, will cover 5.5 acres and include terraces with a range of places to eat. Below the park will be 2000 underground parking spaces, with entrances from The Strand.
- Travel Interchange was completed in November 2005 in Canning Place. This new public transport hub gives a point of arrival into the heart of the city as well as the waterfront.
More information:
If you want to know more about the Paradise Project, historical data about the site, or more detail about the proposals and press releases, visit Grosvenor's Liverpool One website.
You can also find out more about the planning aspects of the scheme, including the Compulsory Purchase Order system used here. This information is on the Planning pages of this website..