327-Bed Student Block Planned Beside Liverpool Olympia
More than 300 student flats are planned for a car park next to the Liverpool Olympia, one of the city's most historic music venues.
A planning application went to Liverpool City Council in late September. It was submitted on behalf of the real estate firm Grantham WDR Ltd. The site is on West Derby Road, on the outskirts of the city centre, and was formerly used by people visiting a nearby casino.
The proposal is for a building of five to nine storeys. It would hold 327 student bedrooms, made up of 118 bedspaces and 209 studios, plus a commercial unit on the ground floor.
From 15 storeys to nine
New documents on the council's planning portal show the pre-application process began in 2020. A consultation took place earlier this year.
Early plans explored a building that could rise to 15 storeys. That now appears to have been scaled back to an upper limit of nine.
According to the developer's community engagement report, verbal feedback from the consultation focused on the size and scale of the scheme. People also raised its "associated impacts on the setting of the adjacent listed buildings".
The affordable housing statement sets out the financial contributions the council could require. They come to £224,000 in section 106 payments and £179,200 for trees.
The planning agent, The Planning Studio, says the brief was to "balance the competing design influences, the heritage/visual impact" and to create a modern, high-quality building. The planning statement says the design team has tried to avoid any conflict with the setting of the nearby listed buildings.
The neighbouring venue
The listed building in question is the Liverpool Olympia, known to some as the Locarno Ballroom. It was a premier dance hall from 1948 to 1964, then a bingo hall, before being restored as a live events venue.
Frank Matcham designed it, with a purpose-built indoor circus and variety theatre, an "elephant pit" for animals and a large water tank. It gained listed status in 1975 and celebrated its 120th birthday last year.
It is not the only student scheme in the area. Just over six months ago a planning application was reported for St Anne Street, less than a mile away, with more than 100 studio apartments proposed opposite the new Merseyside Police headquarters.
Liverpool is forecast to have thousands of extra students by 2031. Analysis published earlier this year ranked the city among the most in-demand places for student housing.
Source: Liverpool Echo