Riding the storm of the recession well and providing much needed investment for Liverpool City Centre is Marcus Worthington Properties Limited, who in partnership with Patten Properties is the company behind the Strand Street development which has recently received full planning approval from the City Council.
The development includes the building of a 10 storey, 141 bedroom Travelodge Hotel, which is expected to add £1.5m to the local economy each year and create 38 new jobs. There will also be ground floor retail units.
Planning approval was given by the City Council on 16 March and the work is due to start in May. With full funding already in place for the project, Russell Worthington, development director, is optimistic about the ongoing development of city centres like Liverpool. He said; “Strand Street is a great example of how important continued investment in urban regeneration is for our city centres; the land, which was previously a car park has lain derelict for over fifteen years. It’s a prime hotel location on Liverpool’s waterfront opposite the Albert Dock, and close to other Liverpool landmarks such as the Royal Liver, The Cunard and the Port of Liverpool buildings. I am sure the new Travelodge will be extremely popular. ”
On top of this since its success as Capital of Culture in 2008 and the popularity of the Liverpool One shopping complex, the number of visitors to the city has increased, and the availability of good value hotel accommodation in the city centre has been at a premium. Consequently a fully funded plan to put both those problems right went down well with the planning authorities.
Although this is its most prestigious to date, the Marcus Worthington Group has a strong portfolio of leisure developments, and is the company behind the Fox Street project in Preston and a 200 bed Travelodge hotel on the former Boddingtons Brewery site in central Manchester.
Tony O’Brien, Travelodge’s UK Development Director said: “We are extremely pleased to have secured planning permission at such a key site in the heart of Liverpool. We believe the new Travelodge will be a great addition to the city’s waterfront, providing much needed affordable accommodation for the many visitors Liverpool receives. We want to give business and leisure travellers every reason to visit Liverpool and stay longer - we see increasing the availability of low cost accommodation in the area central to achieving this objective.”
Russell Worthington continued; “We have been very successful in forming the right partnerships with people we can trust. Working in partnership with Travelodge and land owners Patten Properties, who played a key role in the project, has ensured a good working relationship which has helped to make the scheme work so well.”
Neil Patten, MD Patten Properties was also keen to welcome the planning permission and said; “We are pleased to introduce Travelodge to this location which enables an exciting development of size and stature commensurate with this strategic site within Liverpool’s waterfront and continues the regeneration of this part of the City. By working closely with Russell Worthington we have been able to deliver this project despite the challenging economic climate.”