SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury’s has been revealed as one of the prospective new tenants at the former Rapid Hardware building, in Liverpool city centre.

It was revealed in LDP Business last month that the building’s owner, Grosvenor, was in negotiations with potential tenants for six of the seven retail units at the site.

Grosvenor declined to say who those businesses were, but Sainsbury’s has now placed a notice in the window of one of the units announcing it had applied for a premises licence.

The arrival of such a big-name retailer is a major boost for an area that has become neglected in recent years.

Grosvenor acquired the Rapid building for free as part of the wheeling and dealing involved in its Liverpool One project.

It took possession of the former George Henry Lee site in a deal which saw former tenant John Lewis become the flagship store at Liverpool One.

It then acquired the Renshaw Street premises in the transaction which allowed Rapid to move into the GH Lee building.

Once the Renshaw Street units are fully occupied, Grosvenor intends to put the Rapid building on the market with a price tag of £4m.

This would represent a significant profit for Grosvenor, whose only outlay on the site was legal and administration fees totalling no more than a few hundred thousand pounds.

Grosvenor’s Liverpool-based projects director, Guy Butler, said last month that there had been significant interest in the units from potential occupiers.

“A lot of people are saying no-one is taking retail space, but we have seen a high level of interest in the accommodation,” he said.

Mr Butler also revealed that Grosvenor was now actively seeking an occupier for the remaining space at the former GH Lee building, where there is 40,000 sq ft of vacant accommodation.