Plans submitted for £5m Liverpool car park and retail units

Plans have been submitted for a new multi-storey parking facility in Liverpool complete with retail units.

Set to be built over the existing single-level car park on Victoria Street, the site would cost £5m to construct and offer around 250 spaces.

The proposal, designed to serve as the centrepiece for the regeneration of the Victoria Street area, would also house space on the ground floor for businesses such as restaurants and cafés.

According to estimates, once up and running the car park would generate a net revenue of more than £520k after borrowing costs, in addition to income from a digital advertising screen and the businesses renting the retail units.

As part of the wider regeneration plan, a £3m boost from the Department for Transport’s Local Growth Fund would be used to improve the pavements, highways and public realm on Victoria Street, serving as a potential catalyst for future regeneration and investment.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, the city council’s cabinet member for regeneration, commented: “This area of Victoria Street has been improved recently with the addition of new hotels and student accommodation and we know there is a demand for more car parking space.

“It also gives us an opportunity to invest in the roads and pavements on Victoria Street which are badly in need of improvement.”

He continued: “This area is busy during the day and night and at the moment parts of the infrastructure look extremely tired and worn, so we would want to look at widening the pavements and creating more greenery.”

The car park’s design, Cllr Kennedy explained, will not “adversely impact” the surrounding buildings.

The site chosen for the development was once home to Government House, a large building that housed courtrooms and the council’s administrative offices. According to records, Government House was destroyed by a bomb during the Second World War.

If planning approval is secured, the new car park could be open in time for Christmas 2017.