Approval nears for heavily revised aparthotel scheme

Plans to create a major aparthotel on a prominent site in Liverpool city centre are on the verge of securing the go-ahead, having been heavily revised in the wake of objections to an earlier proposal that would have involved demolishing part of an Edwardian row of shops and building an 11-storey tower.A full planning application by YPG Renshaw Street to redevelop the former Rapid DIY and homeware store at 48-54 Renshaw Street is due to go before Liverpool City Council’s planning committee on Tuesday, 27 June 2017. A non-designated heritage asset built around 1902, the property is near the grade II*-listed St Luke’s bombed-out church and the grade II-listed 35-43 Renshaw Street and 59-67 Renshaw Street.The site was formerly home to the Rapid DIY store, which was founded in Renshaw Street in 1971 and eventually expanded to occupy all of 48-84 Renshaw Street as well as premises on St Luke’s Place and on the opposite side of Heathfield Street before relocating in 2010. The 48-54 properties remain interconnected but have been vacant since 2010.Last summer, Insider reported that the applicant was proposing to create 160 residential properties, which included a mix of private homes and aparthotel accommodation, as well as three commercial units across the basement and ground floor. The controversial scheme would have involved demolishing 48-54 Renshaw Street and introducing a replacement façade that attempted to replicate key features of the existing structure with an 11-storey tower behind it.Following widespread objections, however, YPG Renshaw Street submitted a revised scheme that would have retained the existing façade while introducing an 11-storey new-build behind it. But the applicant was advised that the scale would completely overwhelm the character of the street and so it subsequently returned with further amends.The scheme that is now under consideration involves retaining the existing façade in front of a new five-storey block, which then steps back with an additional two storeys. This proposed new seven-storey development would feature 114 serviced apartments and two ground-floor commercial units.In advance of the committee meeting, a report prepared by planning officers has recommended that the amended scheme should be approved.