PHASE three of Liverpool’s St Paul’s Square office development is to go ahead with the help of almost £9m of public money.
The scheme, which will cost more than £30m to build and will have an end value of around £41m, will comprise 109,000 sq ft of Grade A office space.
Developer English Cities Fund (ECf) will start work on the project next month, with completion due in 2011.
The Daily Post reported earlier this summer that the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) would provide gap funding.
But last night it was confirmed the NWDA will invest £4.2m into the scheme and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) a further £4.6m.
Regeneration agency Liverpool Vision is also giving its support.
Two years ago, it was hoped that gap funding from the taxpayer for such projects was a thing of the past in Liverpool. But the credit crunch and subsequent recession has meant major development schemes once again need a helping hand from the public purse.
ECf, a public-private joint venture between Muse Developments, the Homes & Communities Agency and Legal & General, has already created 250,000 sq ft of office space over the first two phases of St Paul’s Square, which is off Old Hall Street.
The first two phases are already home to tenants including Halifax Bank of Scotland, Allied Irish Bank and the law firms Hill Dickinson and DWF.
