THE city centre premises of DIY store Rapid Hardware have been put up for sale, following the collapse of negotiations with a property developer.

Talks with Merepark, developers of the adjacent £160m Central Village scheme, have fallen through, forcing Rapid to appoint agents to sell the row of red-brick buildings in Renshaw Street.

However, the company has pledged to continue with its plan to move to the vacant former John Lewis department store, in Church Street, whether or not a replacement buyer can be found.

The news impacts on key regeneration plans for Renshaw Street which is seen as ripe for redevelopment.

Malcolm Irving, senior director of retail at agents CB Richard Ellis, said: “The Merepark deal hasn't worked out which may have been influenced by current economic circumstances.

"It does leave us with a challenge to sell the shops, but the nature of the buildings means they could be broken up into parcels.

‘‘There is potential for retail and residential, possibly in the

form of student accommodation.

Mr Irving added that Rapid was committed to moving to Church Street: "There is an opportunity to move earlier than originally planned in 2011 because Marks & Spencer originally wanted to move into the John Lewis store in the short-term, but have now decided against that.”

Rapid Hardware sees a move away from its 77,000 sq ft site to Church Street as an important step in its expansion plans. Equally, the occupancy of the vacant department store is seen as vital to Church Street’s prosperity.

The DIY trader will take a large section of John Lewis and the remainder is currently being put out to the market by Grosvenor.

The initial intention was for M&S to move in temporarily while their premises were refurbished, but that plan was cancelled after M&S decided to stay in its current store.

A spokesperson for Liverpool One developer Grosvenor said an announcement about the occupancy of the Church Street premises would be made in a few weeks’ time.

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