Development partners form JV to lead 27-acre scheme
A joint venture between Urban Splash and Igloo Regeneration has been chosen as the development partner for Liverpool’s 27-acre Festival Gardens scheme.
The pair, appointed by Liverpool city council, scooped the job following a competition which also received bids from Muse, Vistry and CERT Property.
The project team also includes lead architects Metropolitan Workshop and Shedkm, and consultants Mace and Montagu Evans.
A previous exclusivity deal with development partner ION Property Development has now expired and a mutually agreed settlement with Liverpool council has been agreed, the local authority said.
Festival Gardens is one of the largest brownfield redevelopment sites in northern England, originally expected to contain up to 1,500 homes. Liverpool council, which bought the plot in 2015, has promised to ensure 20% of homes on the scheme are affordable.
It is part of a wider 90-acre site within the wider Festival Gardens development zone, a former industrial site which opened as the hugely popular International Garden Festival in 1984.
The waterside site is located around three miles south of Liverpool city centre and features formal Chinese and Japanese gardens.
Remediation and infrastructure installation on the site started in 2021 and was completed by Vinci in summer 2023, supported by £53m in funding from Homes England, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the city council.
Nick Small, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said Urban Splash and Igloo “have a fabulous track record in delivering outstanding innovative and sustainable projects of the highest order”.
Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan Falkingham added: “Festival Gardens is truly one of Liverpool’s best sites, and it’s a huge privilege to have been selected as Liverpool’s development partner on the creation of this new riverside neighbourhood.”
Igloo chief executive Peter Connolly said: “Festival Gardens is one of the city’s most highly anticipated regeneration sites, and we aim to deliver a truly community-driven riverside neighbourhood that future residents and the wider community will be proud of.”
A Liverpool city council meeting in September will seek permission for the council to enter into a contract with the new JV company. The council said it will work with Urban Splash and Igloo to finalise legal agreements and agree a clear timeline for future stages of planning and development if the deal is approved.
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