May opening for Liverpool's new shopping paradise

Dec 9 2007

The opening date for the biggest stores at the heart of Liverpool’s new shopping development have been revealed, as work to put an iconic bridge within the development in place began.

Massive John Lewis and Debenhams shops will open their doors to the public in May next year.

Bosses at Grosvenor, the company building the Liverpool One development, also revealed at least another 80 smaller outlets would be open that month, giving 1m sq ft of new shopping space.

In September, a further 600,000 sq ft of shops, plus restaurants, cafes, bars and over 600 homes, offices and a nursery will open.

Then early in 2009, the new Hilton hotel and budget Novotel hotel will start taking their first guests.

In staffing all those new businesses more than 5,000 new jobs will be created and recruitment is well underway at the Shop for Jobs centre at the project’s headquarters on Lord Street.

Almost 2,000 shopfitters will spend Christmas and into the New Year fitting out more than 160 new shops, cafes and restaurants and two hotels across the 43-acre site.

The latest retail unit to be completed is on the corner of Hanover Street and College Lane and it will be home to three shops.

Rod Holmes, Grosvenor project director, said: "The work topping out of another new building at one end of Hanover Street and the erection of the bridge at the other shows the good progress we are making on building what will be the exciting new shopping streets, homes and public spaces that will open in stages during next year as Liverpool One."

When complete, the development, which has a footprint the size of 28 football pitches, will include more than 450 apartments and seven acres of parkland, as well as the shops, bars and leisure.

Meanwhile, work has begun on installing a new bridge which will link the new development to a car park,

Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the team behind the Paradise Street bus interchange, the 65 metre bridge is held up by supports at each end and will provide consumers with an easy route from their transport straight into the shops.

The bridge was partly prefabricated in Switzerland and arrived in Liverpool in three huge sections.

These were then connected together using two temporary supports that will remain in place until completion early next year.

The structure, engineered by Arup, will weigh more than 150 tonnes when fully installed.

Grosvenor’s project manager, Mark Ellison said: “This is a remarkable piece of engineering that will complete the dramatic group of structures that we are building at the south west end of Paradise Street, and will be an impressive gateway into the regenerated city centre.”

The bridge marks the second of two successes for developers as they celebrated the topping out of the building that sits next door to the new BBC Radio Merseyside studios on Hanover Street.

Project director Rod Holmes said: “The topping out of another new building shows the good progress we are making.”

WHAT a difference £1bn and three years of hard work makes.

These amazing aerial shots show the transformation of the city centre as the Paradise Street project enters its final construction phase.

Amid the cranes and diggers, the new Liverpool One development is emerging.

Eagle-eyed readers will be able to pick out Radio Merseyside’s new home in Hanover Street, Herbert the Hairdresser’s Bling Bling building and the new Paradise Street bus station.

This weekend another eye-catching structure will be erected - the steel bridge connecting John Lewis and the multi-storey car park.

It is a far cry from 2004 before building work started - the NCP car park, original Chavasse park and Moat House Hotel have all been consigned to history.

When the last shop is fitted and paving slab laid, planners say the development will look like the computer generated image above.

Turning the Paradise Street project blueprint to reality has taken almost a decade.

Rod Holmes, Grosvenor project director, said: "All this - the assembly of the development area, the planning, public inquiries, design, letting, financing and construction will have been achieved in just nine years, which makes it not just the largest city centre project of its time, but by far the quickest.

"This reflects the urgency of what was deemed necessary to reverse the prospects of the great city of Liverpool.

"Grosvenor's underwriting of the £1bin investment and its commitment to Liverpool have encouraged other investors and businesses to come to Liverpool.

"Even before Liverpool One is complete, the project has helped to change other people's perceptions of the city; and also the way the city now sees itself."