Developer to cut rents for key workers

Aug 29 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL One developer Grosvenor has teamed up with a city regeneration specialist to lease apartments at below market rates to key workers such as teachers and nurses.

Plus Dane Group is leasing 95 apartments above shops in the £1bn development – and will then market them to key workers.

Another 78 apartments in Liverpool One have been leased by BridgeStreet Worldwide, which will offer them on long-term leases to business and leisure travellers.

Grosvenor says the lettings will ensure that the shopping centre is busy with shoppers and residents at all times of the day.

The 173 apartments in and around the shops at Liverpool One will be completed by the end of this year.

Plus Dane was founded earlier this year in a merger between Liverpool’s Plus Housing Group and Congleton’s Dane Housing Group. It owns or manages 15,000 homes in Merseyside and Cheshire.

Ben Clay, from Plus Dane, said: “We’re really excited to be working with Grosvenor on this new commercial venture. We believe in providing affordable homes and we can offer a fantastic opportunity for people to live the Liverpool One experience .”

A spokeswoman for the group added: “We define key workers as those people who are vital to Liverpool’s regeneration and continued success – this group includes teachers, nurses, new graduates, professionals working in the city, construction workers and retail workers.”

BridgeStreet is one of the world’s largest providers of serviced accommodation, where people stay in their own apartments for periods of weeks or months.

The first phase, including the new Debenhams and John Lewis stores, opened in May. The second phase, which contains Peter’s Lane, the eastern side of Paradise Street, Hanover Street and the Park, opens on September 30.

Liverpool One also includes 326 apartments in the One Park West building which will be completed next spring

alistairhoughton