by Chris Smith
As many people will be aware Merseyside, and Liverpool city centre in particular, have for many years been synonymous with such matters as acute urban deprivation, industrial decline, high unemployment and political militancy.
As an agency with its roots in Liverpool we have experienced at first hand the frustrations of the “Murkyside” image — and these frustrations were never more evident than in the retail market. Throughout Liverpool’s recent turbulent history its strength as a retail centre has continued to be something of an anomoly — many major retailers with substantial longstanding representation in the city have consistently enjoyed buoyant retail sales which, in many cases, have ranked Liverpool in the retailers’ Top Ten stores throughout the country.
Regrettably, at the same time the poor image of the city, coupled with very real problems such as stock shrinkage and security, have helped to put Liverpool at the bottom of retailers’ requirements lists, lagging behind other major centres.
However, the retail boom of the last few years, coupled with a more stable political platform, has encouraged a great resurgence in retailer interest and development activity throughout the city centre.
Liverpool has for many years boasted one of Britain’s shortest prime shopping pitches, Church Street, where zone A rents are now pushing £150 per sq ft. Last year, Rumbelows completed a sale and leaseback of their premises on Church Street at £190,000 pa (circa £130 zone A). Twelve months on and the lease is now on the market through Montagu Evans, who are seeking premium offers of over £150,000. Next door, Peter Lord are presently fitting out a recently refurbished unit, having taken a new lease at a reported rent of £175,000 pa, equating to around £140 zone A.
This prime pitch is now extending beyond its original boundaries and the main catalyst for this extension is the £40m Clayton Square shopping development which opened shortly before Christmas. It is a great credit to the developers, Wimpey Property Holdings, that construction began at a time when general confidence in the city was at a low ebb. The 250,000-sq ft gross scheme boasts such retailers as Boots, Body Shop, Laura Ashley, Dash, Principles and Tie Rack. The lower level, which is now almost fully let, has achieved rents in excess of £100 zone A, with the upper level at a more modest £50 zone A. The agents for this scheme, Peter Murdock & Co and Edward Erdman, have done a good job in maintaining a high-quality tenant mix and resisting the temptation to yield to poor-quality retailers.
The development of Clayton Square has encouraged Land Securities in the refurbishment of their 300,000-sq ft St John’s shopping centre which faces the entrance to Clayton Square on Elliott Street and incorporates a food court as part of its new image. Zone A rents are now reputed to range from around £30 per sq ft up to £80 per sq ft.
The city council is in the process of finalising the pedestrianisation of the main streets connecting Clayton Square and St John’s with Church Street and this has particularly helped Parker Street and Ranelagh Street, where zone A levels are now approaching £90 and £70 per sq ft respectively. Bold Street, which is the traditionally upmarket shopping area within the city centre, is also benefiting, for zone As now peak at some £65 per sq ft adjoining Waterloo Place. In particular, the listed but derelict Lyceum Building at the corner of Bold Street, which has been vacant for many years, is now being developed by the Post Office and Viking to provide a Post Office counter, a philatelic museum and three retail units, one of which is under offer to National & Provincial Building Society.
Further developments on Bold Street include the refurbishment and splitting of the former Gas Board building by Styles & Wood to provide a smaller unit for the Gas Board and a second unit now occupied by Index, the catalogue division of the Littlewoods Group. The zone A achieved apparently equates to some £60 per sq ft.
A further spin-off from the Clayton Square scheme may be seen in the form of the redevelopment of the former Blacklers department store in Great Charlotte Street by Reunion Holdings. Work is currently under way to provide eight large shop units with rents starting at some £95,000 pa (approx £65 zone A). Joint letting agents are Churston Heard and Peter Murdock & Co and apparently four units are already under offer.
At the other end of Church Street, the intersection with Lord Street and Whitechapel, further pedestrianisation has recently been completed, helping to improve rents particularly on the east side of Lord Street which had previously suffered as a result of poor pedestrian flow. Prime rents on Lord Street are currently about £60 per sq ft zone A, although pedestrianisation is likely to boost these figures. It is also hoped that it will help the Cavern Walks shopping centre located behind Lord Street, from which recently Laura Ashley reocated to Clayton Square. The area around Cavern Walks is the subject of a good deal of development and refurbishment activity comprising mainly specialist restaurants and retail operations.
Away from the city centre, the current emphasis is on dockland developments, mainly inspired by the success of Merseyside Development Corporation and Arrowcroft at the Albert Dock. The importance of the area as a major visitor attraction continues to be enhanced by the commitment of the developers to provide new and improved shopping and leisure activities including a proposed five-star hotel, a live morning TV chat show, a Beatles museum and themed restaurants.
We were appointed last autumn to improve the quality of tenant mix and assist in formulating a long-term strategy for the letting of the substantial retail, leisure and office areas still under development.
At the nearby Kings Dock, proposals are in hand for a £26m scheme to include a hotel, a multi-screen cinema complex and a leisure walkway. The North Docks area, which came under Merseyside Development Corporation control, has recently seen proposals from P&O for a £350m scheme on Princes Dock to include at least 300,000 sq ft of retail for which outline planning permission has recently been obtained.
This is in addition to proposals by a North West consortium for a £75m scheme on the Salisbury, Collingwood and Stanley docks which form the terminus of the Leeds/Liverpool Canal.
Without doubt, in the city centre itself the retailing jigsaw is at last fitting together, providing shoppers with a much improved retail environment and a wider choice and variety of shopping — something that has been enjoyed by most of Britain’s other major retail centres for many years.
