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Liverpool City Region’s £2bn Investment Fund is set to unlock more than 520,000 square feet of high-quality office, lab and light industrial space in its first tranche, supporting over 2,800 jobs.
Dozens of projects worth more than £1bn answered a call for investable schemes following the launch of the City Region’s largest ever investment fund at MIPIM in March.
Guided by a new Investment Strategy launched yesterday at UKREiiF, Fund managers have identified six priority projects worth more than £200m that are set to move to the next stage.
They include two developments in Liverpool’s Central Business District that together would create nearly 250,000 square feet of Grade A (the highest quality) office space and support more than 2,000 jobs. The projects have full planning consent and include the city’s first new-build Grade A offices in 15 years that would catalyse further regeneration, and the redevelopment of a prominent, long-vacant Grade II listed building which would create 140,000 sq ft of Grade A workspace.
The six projects also include two industrial developments in St Helens, a lab development in Runcorn and a light industrial development in Liverpool.
A further two projects are more advanced – with funding already approved for Sci-Tech Daresbury’s Project Violet Phase 2 which, once open, will create around 250 jobs across two state-of-the-art buildings.
And hi-tech lab and office development HEMISPHERE One, in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, is in line for Investment Fund support subject to approval of a full business case. The project would create more than 500 operational jobs and nearly 300 during construction, helping address an urgent need for high-quality office and lab space in Liverpool to support research and innovation.
HEMISPHERE One, in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool.
In total, the eight projects will create 520,000 sq ft of commercial space and support more than 2,800 jobs.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said:
“For too long, regions like ours have been expected to transform local economies with short-term funding and one hand tied behind our back.
“This £2bn Investment Fund is about changing that, giving us the ability to really back ourselves, think long-term and invest in the projects that can genuinely change people’s lives. We’ll use it to unlock new opportunities, bring private investment into our communities and support the homes, jobs and inclusive growth that our region needs.”
The £2bn Investment Fund has been created by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority in collaboration with government and public and private sector partners and is designed to accelerate economic growth and create thousands of high-quality jobs.
Bringing together new and existing public funding into a single investment pot, it will help unlock stalled sites, accelerate regeneration and attract billions of pounds more in private and institutional investment.
Days after its launch, the £2bn fund was bolstered by £95m from the Government’s City Investment Funds (CIF), which is designed to strengthen investor confidence in Liverpool and accelerate the city centre’s regeneration pipeline.
CIF funding will help support some of the first tranche projects, identified following a competitive call for schemes to deliver city centre office space, along with labs and light industrial units across the City Region.
Project Violet Phase Two, Sci-Tech Daresbury.
Announcing the projects at UKREiiF today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:
“Liverpool is ready to take its city centre to the next level, and we’re backing it. These new projects will bring historic buildings back into use while backing the growth sectors driving jobs in the city.”
The projects will support fast-growing sectors including health and life sciences, digital technology and advanced manufacturing.
A second call for schemes is expected later this year that will concentrate on the digital and creative sector.
Funding decisions will now be guided by a new LCR Investment Strategy, launched yesterday, which will help the Combined Authority deliver its decade-long Liverpool City Region Growth Plan – designed to raise productivity, strengthen key industries and deliver sustainable, inclusive economic growth.
Built on innovation and collaboration, the Growth Plan is a roadmap to increase wages, drive investment, raise living standards and provide better services for the region’s 1.6 million residents.
Increasing productivity is at the heart of the plan, which will be achieved by building on the City Region’s world leading innovation while accelerating growth of its most productive sectors including advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, digital and technology and creative industries.
Forecast to grow the City Region’s £43.3bn economy by £10 billion and deliver tens of thousands of jobs over the next decade, the plan highlights the importance of improving skills, public transport, housing, health and infrastructure for raising productivity.
Investments will support major transport improvements and regeneration projects, including plans for four new rail stations, a rapid transit system and transport-linked development across the region.
They will also help fast-track housebuilding across the City Region, supporting a £2bn development pipeline expected to deliver up to 64,000 new homes and the infrastructure needed to support growing communities.
The Investment Fund will also support major regeneration opportunities across the region, including Liverpool’s North Docks – the area between the city centre and Everton FC’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium – where a new Mayoral Development Corporation will help accelerate investment and development.
Recent international investments underline growing confidence in the region’s economy, including a major investment by US technology company Kyndryl, which is set to create up to 1,000 jobs at its new Liverpool city centre hub.
