Liverpool Council reboots £200m New Chinatown plan

Liverpool Council is in talks to revive the stalled £200m New Chinatown development

A council is in talks to buy back one of a city's most high profile stalled development sites.

Ambitious regeneration plans for the £200m development known as New Chinatown in Liverpool were first mooted nearly 10 years ago.

But it has lain derelict since 2016 when work on a housing project stopped.

Now it has been revealed Liverpool City Council's cabinet is in talks with administrators who currently control it.

The controversial and complex site has been the subject of legal disputes between the council and developers, and between investors and developers.

The council is not the only party with an interest in the site, Ascot Group, which owns some of the debt, is also in talks to buy it.

The site on Great George Street has been at the centre of legal wranglings for several years.

Two different large scale residential schemes for the site have not materialised

The development, which was mooted as heralding the dawn of a new era for the city's historic Chinatown when proposed by the council nearly 10 years ago, was first proposed by North Point Global in 2015.

It featured 800 homes, a hotel, and offices in the shadow of the Anglican Cathedral and next to the Baltic triangle.

'Advanced negotiations'

Two different large scale residential schemes for the site have not materialised.

The final decision on which party to sell to will be made by administrators who took over the site when the company behind the previous development was dissolved.

A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council confirmed they were "in advanced negotiations with the administrator over the future of the Great George Street site".

"Due to commercial sensitivities, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage," they added.

North Point's involvement in the project ended in 2018 when Great George Street Developments took control of the site.

A different scheme was approved in 2020.

The company behind that scheme was dissolved in June 2023.