Atlantic Gateway LEP bid announced
Peel Holdings has announced its bid for Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) status for its Atlantic Gateway scheme.
Peel Group is a major land and property owner with significant assets in the UK and especially the north west including Liverpool Airport, Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal, The Trafford Centre and MediaCityUK in Salford, soon to be offices and studios for several BBC productions relocating from central London.
LEPs are to replace regional development agencies which currently fund local regeneration and Peel wants LEP status for its mixed-use £50 billion Atlantic Gateway scheme (previously called Ocean Gateway).
As part of that scheme, Peel was granted planning permission by Wirral Borough Council in August for the controversial £4.5 billion Wirral Waters development – the largest planning application in the UK for a 30 year, 18million sq foot mixed-use development project.
A similar project – Liverpool Waters – for dock land on the other side of the River Mersey includes proposals for over 50 new buildings including an iconic 60 storey hotel and office complex to be called the Shanghai Tower.
Offering approximately 1 million square feet of development space and expected to cost in excess of £300 million, Shanghai Tower will also boast a heli-pad on the roof of the building and underwater, basement car parking. It will be the tallest skyscraper outside London and river facing offices at the top of the tower would command a healthy premium for offering stunning views of what is a World Heritage Site.
Liverpool has the oldest Chinese community in Europe and is twinned with Shanghai and the tower was named after a visit to Shanghai by Peel executives. Shortlisted architects for the skyscraper are AFL, Broadway Malyan, Chapman Taylor and Benoy. Approval for this development and the broader Atlantic Gateway development is still however far from certain.
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