Festival Gardens proposals move forward

Proposals to create a mixed-use regeneration scheme at the 90-acre Festival Gardens site have taken a major step forward.Liverpool City Council’s cabinet has approved a report in which mayor Joe Anderson recommended members endorse the strategic vision, masterplan and principles for development of the Festival Gardens site in Otterspool, approve the principle of seeking an investment partner for the site to deliver the scheme in partnership with the council, and grant delegated authority to invite two leisure operators to work up headline business cases and designs for proposed new visitor attractions.The council plans to review this additional information from the leisure operators with the intention of then entering into an exclusivity arrangement with a preferred party for a six-month period to develop the business case.A strategic vision and masterplan prepared by K2 Architects envisages creating up to 2,500 new homes, 500,000 sq ft of commercial and leisure floor space, and a major water leisure destination at the site, which presents an opportunity for significant investment of approximately £600m.A council report prepared for cabinet members ahead of the meeting revealed that the local authority has been approached by an unidentified leisure operator with a view to creating a “world-class themed water park installation with the branding and themes being from a worldwide media brand, under one company licence and which would appeal to all families and ages”. This proposed facility could operate year round and generate up to 2 million visitors per year.In addition, it emerged that an unnamed German leisure operator specialising in high-end indoor water, leisure and health facilities”, which is presently developing facilities in Toronto, New York and Shanghai, has approached the council with early concepts that would require 25 acres and “deliver an architectural statement”. This proposed tourist attraction would represent a £100m investment and aim to attract between 1.5 million and 2 million visitors annually.Both propositions are still at an early concept stage.In March 2017, Liverpool City Council announced at global property conference MIPIM that it was seeking a development partner to create a “cultural garden suburb” in Otterspool. The scheme is being promoted as Festival Park Liverpool.