Tall & Urban News

The development site set to contain a two-tower complex in Liverpool has been put up for sale.

Ovatus II was hoped to become among the taller towers in Liverpool, reaching 48 stories high on the corner of Old Hall Street.

The prospective development site, which was also set to contain neighboring tower Ovatus I, has been put on the market by commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The Ovatus II project would have featured 530 apartments, and was set to be several stories higher than West Tower.

The Ovatus I site has planning permission from Liverpool City Council, for a 168-apartment block built over 28 stories.

Under the plans, the two towers would replace the current mirrored glass data center at the corner of Old Hall Street, neighboring Kier's £200-million (US$263 million) Pall Mall scheme.

Giovanni Pilla, senior surveyor at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “‘We are pleased to have launched these prime residential sites.

"Ovatus I and II present an opportunity for a developer to create stunning landmarks in Liverpool City Centre, which will bring new levels of high-quality residential accommodation to the city.’’

The firm is inviting offers on the sites, which are available separately or together by way of negotiation, but the asking price has not been revealed.

The three story-high building on the corner of Old Hall Street, well known to motorists, was built in the 1980s by the Moores family for its Littlewoods empire. 
 
Martin Wilcocks of financial advisory firm Wilcocks and Wilcocks and Craig Blackwell of investment firm Prospect Capital Holdings, announced in 2016 that they were teaming up to buy the 122 Old Hall Street site, including the Shop Direct data center. They revealed plans for the towers in 2017.

They said at the time that the double tower project had been fully funded, adding that work on the first tower could start as early as April 2017, subject to planning permission.

For more on this story, go to Liverpool Echo.