Questions have been raised over the viability of the Littlewoods building project on the edge of Liverpool city centre after years of false dawns.
The former Football Pools site has lingered on the city’s horizon without a tenant for almost 30 years after the company vacated the site in 1994. Amid countless dashed hopes of a new lease of life for the site, light was seen at the end of the tunnel in 2021 when Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Liverpool Council pledged millions of pounds to remodel the building.
It is hoped that this year will mark the start of a five year journey to transform the building, which was heavily damaged in a blaze in 2018, into a brand new 260,000 square feet TV and film studio, media and creative complex. However, Cllr Hetty Wood, chair of Liverpool Council’s strategic development and housing committee, has questioned the methods the city is using to get the site back on track.
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A presentation from Fiona Gibson, city centre development coordinator, outlined progress on the site, including a cash injection of £8m from the Combined Authority to ascertaining the structural integrity of the building. While this phase is underway, developers Capital & Centric will market the site with the intention to attract tenants and inform the design.
A report ahead of the committee meeting said however, “there are some issues still to be addressed associated with this project namely how Phase 2 will be funded.” Liverpool Council own both the Littlewoods building and the land adjacent, which will be developed as part of the project.
Cllr Wood offered a note of caution following the presentation. She outlined the history of the site, with promises of a hotel, office space and film studios being touted over the years. Cllr Wood said: “There's clearly something that doesn't or isn't making it viable.
“Are we just repeating the same tactics?" Mark Bourgeois, interim director of city development, acknowledged the plan wasn’t without risk while Ms Gibson added it was imperative Liverpool invested in the film sector now to secure opportunities amid high demand.
The area has proven popular for the media industry, with Paramount+ securing a long term lease at the new pop-up studios known as The Depot. The studios, which opened in 2021 to the tune of almost £4m, has three more years to make the cost of the build back before the revenue and capital levels drop to their traditional use as industrial/commercial accommodation.
In terms of delivery, legal structures have been reworked for the Littlewoods Building, with a long lease replaced by a 35-year lease “along with other agreements to ensure effective delivery and control.” Last month, Capital & Centric said they hoped work could begin on the “eyesore” site by June this year amid changes to timetables.
Ms Gibson said there will be no physical work on site until the summer and nobody has been in the building since the massive fire almost five years ago.
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