Top North Wales builders Anwyl Construction have been given the go-ahead for a £35 million plus new student accommodation development in Liverpool city centre.
Liverpool Council planning committee approved plans for the Ewloe-based company to start work on the development of 566 student apartments on the Norton Street site of Liverpool’s former National Express coach station.
It is Anwyl’s first major development in Liverpool and will be made up of two blocks of 16 storeys and 10 storeys at 45-degrees to each other and facing onto busy Islington in the heart of the city and will be one of the largest new student accommodations in Liverpool.
It will also include commercial units on the ground floor which will also feature communal facilities including a gym, dining area, games room, laundry and office/reception area together with cycle and bin stores for the residents.
The two blocks will be joined at ground floor level by an interlinking glazed block with landscaped areas at the entrance on Islington/Norton Street and within a courtyard area between the blocks.
Director Tom Anwyl, who heads up Anwyl Construction, said: “Liverpool is a thriving and exciting city and we’re proud to be playing a part in its transformation.
“The Anwyl Group has a solid reputation for high quality and thoughtful building in North Wales and we have ambitious plans for expansion in the North West.
“We believe that to gain unanimous approval for such a significant development in a key location in the city is the perfect way to launch Anwyl across the border.
“There were no objections and it was commended by Peter Jones of Liverpool Planning and suggested that the scheme was in the right location for the local universities.”
The council gave the development unanimous approval and said it would contribute towards the mix of residential accommodation and support the regeneration of the Islington area.
The report of the Interim head of Planning said: “The development will respond well to the surrounding buildings and will be of sufficiently high quality to ensure it contributes positively to the surrounding area whilst respecting the distinctive nature of the locality.”
Part of the disused Waterloo rail tunnel runs underneath the Norton Street site and Anwyl is consulting with Network Rail over the development while the tunnel’s Grade II-listed ventilation tower will be preserved as part of the scheme.
A council consultation on the development didn’t receive any objections.
Anwyl also have plans for a second prestige development in the city centre, a £50 million eco-friendly apartment complex on Pall Mall where they are planning a 21-floor development housing 342.
A planning application is set to be lodged by Anwyl Construction in the next month, including plans for a mix of luxury studio flats, and one, two and three bedroomed apartments.
Tom Anwyl added: “We are committed to ensuring that the areas in which we work benefit from the investment in them by ensuring that wherever possible we use local sub-contractors and source our materials through local supply chains and this is a policy we will continue in Liverpool.”
The Anwyl group is a family run company founded in Rhyl in 1930 and which this year moved into a new £2.5 million headquarters in Ewloe, in Flintshire.
As well as the Liverpool developments the company have announced a massive programme of more than £80 million in new building projects across both their housing and contracts divisions during 2016.
The construction division has a number of developments both in progress and due to start this year and the company is scheduled to build over 300 houses this year and over a thousand over the next three years.
