Liverpool City Council is in search of a development partner to transform the 28-acre Festival Gardens site, with the goal of awarding the contract by October 2025. The brownfield site, located just ten minutes from Liverpool city centre, is a key component of the city’s broader housing strategy.

The site, which has been earmarked for up to 1,500 homes, is part of a design project by architects Shedkm and Metropolitan Workshop, with Mace and Montagu Evans acting as consultants. Liverpool City Council is focused on delivering a project that showcases “exemplar design quality, place-making, and sustainability,” according to an upcoming cabinet meeting report.

The council believes the development could add up to £300 million in gross development value to the city. To achieve this, the council is pursuing a procurement strategy that minimises risk while allowing it to maintain influence over development outcomes, including timelines and quality.

Liverpool City Council aims to encourage competitive dialogue among bidders to ensure the highest standards are met. Flexibility and market engagement are seen as crucial to realising the site’s full potential. Securing a commercial return for the council’s land interest is also a priority.

Funding for the project is supported by Homes England, Liverpool City Council, and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Some initial work has already been completed, including the opening of the Southern Grasslands, a 20-acre park created on part of the site in August 2023. This area now features over 5,700 trees and 1.2 miles of footpaths.

The entire site was previously a landfill, requiring extensive remediation to make development viable. VINCI Building completed this remediation, which involved moving 450,000 cubic metres of soil, between 2021 and January 2024.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram commented, “This is another milestone on the journey to transforming Festival Gardens into a vibrant, inclusive community that will be cherished by generations to come. Now we’re ready to work with a partner who shares our vision to turn this prime waterfront site into a beacon of sustainable living.”

Liverpool City Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, added, “The extensive remediation work is another piece in the puzzle, and we’re now in a position to go out to the market and invite developers to share with us their viable vision which will be transformative for the area and the city as a whole.”

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