Lewis’s store at heart of £30m Liverpool development

Nov 8 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S iconic Lewis’s department store is to undergo a major £30m refurbishment that will see all nine floors used for retail and leisure.

The Daily Post today reveals initial details of a vision to upgrade the Grade II listed building, as part of plans to redevelop Renshaw Street and the area around Central station.

Yesterday London firm Capital and Counties sold the majority share of the Lewis’s site to Altrincham developers Merepark, in a deal that created a joint venture partnership. Last night, the two refused to confirm the value of that sale, but announced they are jointly preparing to lodge a planning application with the council next month.

They stressed Lewis’s department store would continue to trade as normal as a tenant, both during and after the redevelopment of the building.

It was also confirmed the infamous Jacob Epstein statue, Liverpool Resurgent, which dominates the corner opposite Lime Street, will also be preserved in the renovation work.

It is understood the plan will involve a mix of shopping and leisure facilities, making “full use” of the famous store, which currently only allows customers on its lower four floors.

The re-vamped Lewis’s will be bolted on to Merepark’s proposed £160m Central Village scheme with developers Ballymore, to build 300 apartments and a four-star hotel behind Central station.

An “interchange” is being designed to encourage shoppers to move between the two sites.

Merepark and Ballymore also recently acquired the Watson building, next door to Lewis’s, and Rapid Hardware’s nearby paint store.

The developers were last night reluctant to discuss blueprints for how the schemes will finally look, or when it will be finished, but said they want to create “greater permeability” between all their sites in the area.

Regeneration agency Liverpool Vision said it hoped the plan would create a vibrant shopping and leisure destination to rival Grosvenor’s £900m Liverpool One development.

Business leaders last night added that it was vital to ensure the Lewis’s end of the city centre did not fall into decline once the Grosvenor project opens to shoppers next year.

Lewis’s, which originally opened in 1856, went through a troubled spell at the beginning of the year and was saved in March through a management buy-out which led to the formation of Vergo Retail.

It is hoped that the refurbishment plan will help secure its long term future.

Last night, Merepark said that it was committed to the constructive conservation of the building, and wanted a refurbishment which “acknowledges the past, but which also looks to the future”.

Capital and Counties will remain involved as a minority partner.

Merepark director Richard Peel said: “These are two highly strategic acquisitions which will enable us to deliver a full regeneration programme for Central Village and integrate two very prominent sites into the fabric of the city.

“Our discussions with Vergo Retail, which currently trades from the Lewis’s department store, have been based on continuity of its trade throughout the construction process and this has the upmost importance.”

He said the company had worked closely with the city council, English Heritage, and Liverpool Vision through the purchase process. Merepark and Ballymore are due to start work on the Central Village scheme, which includes a 25-storey tower, next month.

Martin Wright, Liverpool Vision development director, said: “Lewis's is a landmark building in Liverpool city centre and the acquisition by Merepark will allow a sensitive and imaginative refurbishment.

“The acquisition, in conjunction with the wider Central Village development, will result in an exciting new mixed-use quarter being created in this important area of the city centre.”

davidbartlett@dailypost.co.uk