Revo 2017: Augur Group has acquired the Lewis’s Building and adjoining land in Liverpool, which it is planning to redevelop to create a new retail and leisure destination called “Circus”.
The developer has paid around £20m for the site and adjoining assets. It will work alongside Liverpool City Council and Network Rail.
The planned development lies adjacent to Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ) – which features the city’s creative and dynamic industries – and adjoins Liverpool Central Station. It will encompass 400,000 sq ft of the Grade II listed Lewis’s Building and its retained iconic façade, as well as the surrounding land, to deliver a retail and leisure destination.
As part of the regeneration project, Augur has been working alongside Network Rail to enable the expansion of the station to accommodate growing passenger numbers, which reached nearly 16 million in 2015/2016, making it one of the busiest rail stations in the UK.
On completion, the site will offer commuters, visitors and students more than 275,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space over five floors. Augur is already in detailed discussions with cinema operators and a number of retail and leisure tenants for the site.
Included in the acquisition is the 126 room Adagio Hotel, 70,000 sq ft of Grade A refurbished office space over four floors with 50% already leased to the NHS and a 25,000 sq ft Pure Gym on the lower ground floor.
Simon Mann, chief executive of Augur Group, said: “In developing Circus, we are restarting the regeneration of the Lewis’s Building, bringing back to life a significant and historic landmark in the city and creating a brand new, mixed-use destination for the people of Liverpool. At a time when the city is undergoing major infrastructure improvements, we see Circus as a brand new central place for people to come together for retail, leisure and work. It is a prime location where more than 40,000 people travel through daily.”
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