Plans are to be drawn up to create a new gateway for the £2 billion Knowledge Quarter regeneration scheme in Liverpool.

The city council will start designing a 'masterplan' to connect the development with the rest of the city.

Proposals include redeveloping Mount Pleasant Car Park to help create a new city centre gateway leading to the Quarter. The plans build on the £40 million mixed-use development currently on site at Lime Street and the £13m regeneration of the former ABC Cinema as a major new music and live entertainment venue.

Overall, the 'masterplan' will be designed to reconnect areas fragmented by singular ownerships, by providing greater connectivity and mobility around Lime Street to complement the upgrade and improvement of the existing public realm and highways, plans for which are already underway.

The council will meet later this week to approve the development of a plan, as well as seek approval in principle to acquire and develop land/buildings within the gateway area.

-- Advertisement --

Purchases will be made through private negotiations, however if a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) is required, that is likely to be funded by the developer of any proposed scheme following the design of a masterplan. The endorsement of any CPO would also be the subject of a future report to Cabinet.

A successful planning application has already been submitted for Paddington Village. The scheme, which lies in the heart of KQ Liverpool, aims to build a 13-storey live-learn base for Liverpool International College.

The scheme will regenerate the vacant former Archbishop Blanch School site at the intersection of Smithdown Lane and Grove Street.

Designed by CPMG, features include 47,000 sq ft of academic, residential and administrative space, 259 beds, a café, a Knowledge Hub, study booths, a social area with game and study zones, and a reception. The development will open in 2019.

Mayor Joe Anderson said: "KQ Liverpool is going to redefine this city's future – the potential is that great. The building blocks are now going in and this gateway is a critical step in ensuring the city centre is fully connected to the Knowledge Quarter. With the regeneration of Lime Street underway, we can now focus on developing this masterplan, setting out how this key scheme should look."

Colin Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer of KQ Liverpool, added: "These proposals are a vital next step in the regeneration of our thriving city centre, linking Lime Street Station to the city's main concentration of science, health, education and the cultural assets, including our two cathedrals, on and around Hope Street.

"Alongside the 30-acre Paddington Village site, this will create a world leading innovation district, attracting global investment on a scale that the City Region hasn't seen since Liverpool One and the Superport. The city's plans show the pride, optimism and ambition that people now genuinely have for Liverpool."

(LM)