DUKE OF WESTMINSTER GETS PARADISE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY
22 Nov 2004
The Duke of Westminster and Leader of Liverpool City Council, Councillor Mike Storey, heralded the start on-site of the 42-acre Paradise Project today at a public groundbreaking ceremony in the centre of Liverpool.
Directing work on the ground the Duke of Westminster set in motion what will be a massive construction programme to transform the centre of Liverpool in time for the city’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
“This is a momentous day for Liverpool, for the North West and for Grosvenor,” said the Duke of Westminster. “It gives me great pleasure to formally get the wheels of construction turning on this ambitious and exciting project to revitalise the centre of Liverpool.”
Councillor Mike Storey, added: “This is a memorable day for Liverpool as we officially start the city’s biggest-ever building project and the biggest scheme of its kind in Europe. The Paradise Project will cover the equivalent of 22 new football pitches. It will create a new heart for the city with significant new leisure and shopping, including many big names that have never been in Liverpool before. Our established businesses like John Lewis will benefit from impressive major new stores. This scheme will transform the heart of the city, creating thousands of jobs for local people and making Liverpool one of the country’s top retail and leisure destinations. It will be a major part of helping us achieve our ambition of making Liverpool a premier European city.”
The Paradise Project, will create new and refurbished buildings, streets squares and open spaces, carefully integrated into the existing fabric of the city. There will be 30 new buildings, designed by local, national and internationally renowned architects. A new 5.5 acre (2.2 hectare) terraced park will provide versatile leisure space and link the city’s enlarged shopping area to the Waterfront.
The project will provide just over 1.65m sq ft (154,000 sq m) of retail space, which will include striking new buildings for anchor stores Debenhams and John Lewis; plus164 other retail units. Two new hotels, 465 new residential units, 3,000 car parking spaces and a new bus station will also be created.
Liverpool’s overall regeneration initiative is expected to deliver around £3bn of investment and 12,000 jobs. The Paradise Project will play a key role in this process and help to reposition Liverpool as a leading European city.
Sir David Henshaw, City Council Chief Executive, said: “This scheme has taken just four years to develop to the stage today where the diggers are being sent in. That is unprecedented progress for a scheme of this complexity and magnitude which will have a lasting impact on the city centre and help improve life for the people of Liverpool for generations to come. The City Council has worked hand in hand with Grosvenor to deliver this scheme on time for Capital of Culture in 2008 and all is now set fair for the city to be transformed. It shows that Liverpool is delivering large-scale projects to regenerate the city on a scale unequalled by any other British city.”
The groundbreaking ceremony marks the real start of the Paradise Project construction programme. The first major objective is to create two new car parks and the new bus station at Canning Place. This will allow for the demolition of the existing bus station and the construction of the new 240,000 sq ft (22,300 sq m) John Lewis store on Paradise Street and the 185,000 sq ft (17,190 sq m) Debenhams on South John Street.
Commenting on the project, Grosvenor’s Chief Executive, Stephen Musgrave, said: “The vision for the new Liverpool that so many of us share and have worked hard to create is about to unfold. That we have come such a long way in a short time is testament to the dedication of the Grosvenor and City Council teams and to the strength of the relationship that has been forged. We and our construction partners, Laing O’Rourke, must now concentrate on getting the Paradise Project across the finishing line during 2008.”
Today’s ceremony also underlines the achievement of a number of critical milestones during the last few weeks. The Development Agreement between Grosvenor and the City Council has been ratified, as has the agreement with John Lewis. The company has also completed the creation of the £655m Grosvenor Liverpool Fund which will finance the project.
For further information, please contact:
Grosvenor
Ayo Daramola-Martin - Tel: 020 7312 6309
Mobile: 07795 394 151
Justin St Clair-Charles - Tel: 01756 710 754
Mobile: 07769 644 059
Liverpool City Council
Matt Finnegan - Tel: 0151 233 4032
Mobile: 07889 204 876
Tom Farrell - Tel: 0151 225 5509
Mobile: 07711 164 611
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