Council planners give the go-ahead to the conversion of a Liverpool city centre office building, that has been empty for 21 years, into apartments. Tony McDonough reports
District & Urban Developments is to convert a Liverpool city centre office building into apartments after securing the go-ahead from the city council.
Under delegated powers, council planners have given the green light to a project that will see Crown House in James Street, next door to the Liverpool pub, converted into 16 apartments along with a retail unit on the ground floor.
Crown House was built in the 1950s after the previous building on the site was destroyed in a bombing raid in World War II. Used for office accommodation it has been empty since 2004 after the last tenants moved out.
Change of use to residential was approved by the city council in 2017 but a planning inspector blocked that scheme due to concerns around the mix and the size of the of the units proposed and a lack of affordable provision.
In August 2024 agents at Avison Young submitted a fresh application to the council on behalf of District & Urban Developments. There will be 15 two-bedroom apartments and one, one-bedroom apartment.
Four of the apartments will be classed as ‘affordable’ which means a sale price or rental no higher than 80% of the local market rate.
A three-storey extension will also be added onto the roof. This would be set back from the front elevation and would be constructed with the stonework matching the existing building. Unlike a number of buildings in the area, Crown House is not listed.
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In the application, Avison Young wrote: “This application will prevent the building, which sits in a prominent location in Liverpool city centre, falling into further degradation and back into active use, providing much-needed residential accommodation.”
A letter from another agency, Mason Owen, submitted as part of the application, detailed how efforts to market the building as office space over a period of time were unsuccessful.
The Crown House project team comprises Avison Young, Craig Foster Architects, Curtins, Mason Owen, and AEC.
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