Developer Legacie unveils plans to convert the former Watson Prickard fashion store in Liverpool into an apartments complex. Tony McDonough reports

Former Watson Prickard fashion store in Liverpool. Picture by Tony McDonough

Developer Legacie has put forward a plan to convert the former Watson Prickard fashion store in Liverpool into 55 one-bedroom apartments.

Located on the corner of Cook Street and North John Street the building, called 1 Union Court, was for many years occupied by Watson Pickard, a department store that originally opened in 1893.

It later became a “stylish” fashion outlet for men and women and also had a large train set on the top floor. Radio listeners will remember the catchy radio jingle for the store in the 1980s… “Tell us the place where real style is back in fashion”.

Sadly, the store closed its doors for the final time in 2010 although the Watson Prickard name can still be seen at the top. The upper floors were converted for office use.

Until recent years industrial tribunals were heard on one of the floors and there is currently a Slug & Lettuce bar and restaurant on the ground floor.

In 2019 plans to convert it to a hotel came to nothing. Now the Legacie plans, submitted to Liverpool City Council, will see the 36,000 sq ft of offices converted into apartments. The Slug & Lettuce will be unaffected by the scheme.

Liverpool architects Falconer Chester Hall will be designing the scheme while Savills will advise Legacie on the planning process.

Legacie has established itself as Liverpool’s busiest developer in the last few years. In August it completed its £90m Parliament Square residential project in the city.

Comprising 500 apartments across four blocks in the Baltic Triangle, Parliament Square will generate £1m in council tax and business rates a year for Liverpool City Council.

This offers a mix of  one, two, and three-bedroom apartments across the four blocks which range in height from eight to 18 storeys.

Another ongoing development is One Park Lane, which will see the development of the historic Heap’s Mill Rice Factory. Legacie is also building a 656-unit residential scheme known as The Gateway on Leeds Street.