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Liverpool city council earns £1.7m in rent from Liverpool One

LIVERPOOL Council is earning almost £2m-a-year in rent from the Liverpool One development.

The Daily Post can reveal that the terms of the agreement brokered with developers Grosvenor, who built the £1bn centre, sees the council get 5% of rents.

Currently the council is receiving £1.7m a year, but the figure will rise in future years as discounted rent deals for some stores come to an end.

Last night, politicians and business leaders said Liverpool One was a shinning example of regeneration that had delivered benefits across the board.

The cash bonanza is the icing on the cake in a development that has been a “win-win” for the city and its residents, said Liverpool Council leader Warren Bradley.

He added: “By using our assets wisely to deliver this flagship regeneration scheme, we have been able to secure a substantial annual return which means it provides good value for council tax payers.

“We secured a cracking deal which has sent out a powerful message to the private sector that Liverpool can and will partner with them to deliver top-quality schemes.”

The 1.6m sq ft scheme is 98% full, and, in the last full shopping week before Christmas, around 739,100 shoppers poured into its shops – more than 200,000 more than the same week in 2008.

Under the deal brokered with Grosvenor, the company owned by the Duke of Westminster, the firm got a 250-year lease on the 42-acre site in exchange for the £1bn investment.

At that stage, Liverpool languished at 17th place in the UK retail league – now it sits in fifth place.

Cllr Bradley said: “Grosvenor have spent a billion pounds of private sector cash creating a world-class retail and leisure centre which has generated more than 5,000 jobs for local people.

“The development is attracting thousands more visitors to Liverpool every week, and they are spending money which is supporting the wider economy.”

Deputy Labour leader Paul Brant said it was a model that he hoped could be rolled out for future investments.

He said: “We have long supported this model of regeneration which delivers new jobs for the city and income for the council.

“We believe that this model can be rolled out across other areas of the city using underused or derelict land owned by the council.

“The private sector is often keen to work in partnership with the council, which would benefit from being more entrepreneurial.” Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said the council deserved credit for delivering an exceptional investment.

“All credit to the council.

“It was important and visionary thinking by Sir David Henshaw [former council chief executive] and Mike Storey [ex-council leader] that kicked this off years ago.

“It was not based on how much revenue the council could generate for the council, but on what the city needed.

“Any consequent benefit that the council gets is greatly deserved.”

Frank McKenna, of lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business, said: “It’s important there is an entrepreneurial skill in the council that is able to generate deals like this.

“The council deserves congratulations for this.”