Plans have been unveiled to expand Liverpool's business district.

Next week, the council will discuss a report recommending the creation of a draft Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF) that would seek to develop the 40-acre district and potentially connect it to the development of Princes Dock in the £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters scheme.

The SRF will give the council's planning authority the ability to determine future development use to meet demand and enable Liverpool to compete with other core cities.

In 2016, the district saw office take-up up rise by 16% at 396,436 sq ft – the highest take-up since 2009 – but vacant office stock continues to fall and now stands at 958,083 sq ft with only 330,438 sq ft ready to occupy.

To address the issue, the city council is seeking to support a £200m plan to develop a scheme in Pall Mall, with Kier Property and CTP, that will provide 400,000 sq ft of new Grade A office space which could could deliver up to 2,500 new jobs. Other plans are in place to develop £100m in new road infrastructure at the northern fringe of the district, while a planning application has recently been submitted to create a new cruise terminal at Princes Dock.

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Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: "Liverpool's business district is a major engine in the city's economy and its future growth needs to be proactively managed to maximise its potential and further underpin the development of Liverpool Waters.

"The supply of Grade A office space is critical to any successful city centre which is why we are supporting the Pall Mall development but to stimulate demand and provide more supply, which will in turn create much needed jobs in the professional sector, we need a long term vision which this Spatial Regeneration Framework will underpin.

"The fact is the city centre has boomed in the past decade in its appeal for shoppers, tourists and those wanting to live in a great city centre and the competing needs of a growing population and visitor economy now needs to be addressed to ensure the district remains a dynamic and vital cog in our commercial economy for the next 20 years."

Following cabinet approval it is envisaged that a brief is put to the market in the summer with consultation to follow in the autumn, before a final SRF is submitted in early 2019.

(LM/MH)