Liverpool City Council planning committee approves plan to convert a Grade II-listed Victorian building in the city centre into an 81-bed hotel. Tony McDonough reports

Grade II-listed Fruit Exchange building in Victoria Street in Liverpool. Picture by Tony McDonough

Councillors in Liverpool have approved plans for a new 81-bed hotel in the city centre.

On Tuesday, councillors on the planning committee gave the green light for the conversion of the Grade II-listed Fruit Exchange in Victoria Street which has been empty for a number of years.

Developer JSM originally secured planning approval for an 85-bed hotel at the site in 2020 but the pandemic put the project on hold and the planning permission elapsed.

Originally built as a railway goods depot in 1888, the building became a fruit exchange in 1923 and in recent years the ground floor has been home to a number of bars.

JSM will convert the upper floors of the building into a hotel that would also include a restaurant bar. There would be a mezzanine level on the top floor of the Mathew Street wing with associated rear extensions.

A planning report to the committee said: “Designed to sell fruit which was shipped into the city from around the world, including figs and oranges, the ornate grander of the building depicts the wealth and status associated with the trade.

“The entrance hall is tiled with grey and white tiles, with an almost Art Deco motif, with the flanking offices lined with timber panelling. The entrance hall then leads to the principal auction hall, a highlight of the commercial history of Liverpool.”

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City planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval, saying it will facilitate the viable re-use of valued heritage assets and enable the efficient regeneration of a long term vacant site.

JSM says the smaller of the property’s two auction rooms could be converted into a space capable of hosting a comedy club, lectures or hiring out for “one-on-one acapella concerts”.

Grade II-listed Fruit Exchange was built in 1888. Picture by Tony McDonough

It has agreed to include a track hoist in one of the rooms to accommodate disabled guests at the request of a councillor on the committee.

This will be the latest in a number of new hotels either opened or planned in Liverpool city centre. In a report on the booming sector this week, LBN outlined how the number of hotel beds had rocketed from 2,000 to almost 10,000 in the space of just a few years.

Latest figures from the city council show 982,702 rooms were sold in the city centre in the first six months of 2024. This is the second-best half year (after 2018) since the authority began collecting data in 2004.