Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner announces preferred bidder for Canning Place site
Homes England has been named preferred bidder for Canning Place, the former Merseyside Police headquarters on Liverpool's waterfront. Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell has begun the legal process of selling the 2.64-acre site to the Government's housing and regeneration agency.
The site was on the open market for nine weeks and attracted 13 bids, which were judged against nine criteria including price, design quality, social value, the strength of the delivery team and sustainability. The criteria reflected a public consultation carried out before marketing and requirements set by Liverpool City Council's planners. Homes England's bid was assessed as offering the best value.
Homes England proposes a high-quality mixed-use waterfront scheme likely to include homes, a hotel, retail, leisure and commercial space. It will now carry out due diligence and masterplanning with Historic England and the city council, aiming to exchange contracts later in the year, before appointing a development partner and seeking planning consent.
The proceeds will fund upgrades to police stations. Ms Spurrell said the force already saves around £550,000 a year by operating from its new Rose Hill headquarters, and that the sale allows the estates strategy to progress, including new hubs in St Helens, Wirral and Knowsley and new stations in Southport and Newton-le-Willows. Homes England chief executive Eamonn Boylan described the site as a unique chance to add to the area's regeneration legacy.
Canning Place faces the Albert Dock, close to Paradise Street bus station, Liverpool ONE and the Baltic Triangle. It includes a seven-storey headquarters of more than 135,000 sq ft, an annex, car park and gatehouse. Opened in 1977, it was vacated from October 2021 when more than 1,100 officers and staff moved to Rose Hill.
Colliers and Mace Consult, supported by PLACED, advised on the marketing and disposal, with a sales brochure sent to more than 1,000 market contacts.
