Liverpool's first five-star hotel promised in 60-storey tower set to become city's tallest building

By Dan Haygarth | 11/03/25

?Hello,

In today’s Liverpool Daily Post we have more details on the ￡1bn King Edward skyscraper project on the edge of the city centre, with a five-star hotel promised in what would be the city’s tallest building. Additionally, Liam Thorp reports that MP Mike Amesbury will resign and Liam also has the latest on the controversial parking plan around Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Thanks for reading. Apologies - there won’t be a newsletter sent tomorrow as the ECHO politics team will all be out of the office. We will be back on Thursday.

?Liverpool's first five-star hotel promised in 60-storey tower set to become city's tallest building

Liverpool's first five-star hotel has been promised as part of a new 60-storey tower set to be the tallest building in the city. Developers KEIE Limited and Beetham are working on the ￡1bn King Edward skyscraper project on the edge of the city centre, hoping to transform Liverpool's iconic waterfront skyline. The two firms last year joined forces to buy the former King Edward Triangle industrial estate on Gibraltar Row for a landmark high-rise development. Part of Liverpool Waters, a long-term project from Peel Waters to revitalise the city's post-industrial northern docklands, the King Edward project is set to deliver a high-rise residential development comprising more than 1,000 apartments. A number of businesses currently operate in the triangle but Peel sold the land to KEIE last April, after Liverpool City Council agreed to a ￡1.5m deal to lift a covenant on the site and enable the construction of skyscrapers. KEIE, part of the TJ Morris group which owns Home Bargains, will work with Hugh Frost, whose Beetham organisation built Liverpool's current tallest building - the 40-floor West Tower, on the project. The King Edward project is one of the five neighbourhoods of Liverpool Waters, combined with Central Docks, Clarence Docks, Princes Dock and Northern Docks. The full site stretches from the northern edge of Liverpool city centre to Bramley-Moore Dock, where Everton FC's new stadium has been built. The developers recently confirmed that a planning application for a ‘pathfinder’ tower of 27 storeys will be submitted within a month. Last month, the developers also said "going beyond 50 storeys is achievable" for the first time in the city's history as they unveiled a computer generated image of the project. Today, at the MIPIM property fair in Cannes, KEIE and Beetham revealed plans for Liverpool’s first five-star hotel within a 60-storey tower, which would eclipse the West Tower as the tallest in the city. They said the scheme will include two hotels, totalling 400 bedrooms, with the aim of targeting a global operator to provide a five-star brand which will also offer luxury branded residences within a single tower of up to 60-storeys or more. The developers also said they wish to involve skyscraper designers Simpson Haugh in their first Liverpool building. Hugh Frost, chairman of developer Beetham, said: "We are creating a destination and a new district in the city centre and the mix and quality of uses and operators will be key to its success." He added: "A waterfront of Liverpool’s quality deserves only the best and we are here talking to hoteliers about how we can give them the setting to showcase their brand for the first time in the Liverpool market. The growth in the city’s high-end tourism market, particularly cruise passengers, gives us the confidence that this will succeed." Scheme architect Chris Bolland of Liverpool-based Brock Carmichael said that the development’s design values will be a key attribute that will attract ‘the best occupiers’. He said: “This is all about creating a new destination to which blue chip occupiers will naturally gravitate. The best restaurateurs want to be next to the best hotels and office occupiers, so everything is conceived with that circularity in mind." He added: “We are delighted to be curating an outstanding design team that we hope will also include Simpson Haugh, and global design practice firm 3XN." The West Tower is currently the tallest building in Liverpool, standing at 40 storeys. However, project architect Mr Bolland last month said the King Edward project could see buildings go beyond 50 storeys. He explained: "What you see here shows our confidence that going beyond 50 storeys is achievable and desirable and our discussions to date with the city council have been highly constructive." As an incredibly popular tourist destination, Liverpool has its fair share of grand and stylish hotels. The Hope Street Hotel is favoured by celebrities visiting the city, the Titanic has completely reinvented a Stanley Dock warehouse and Seel Street's The Resident was named TripAdvisor's 2024 'best of the best' in the UK - beating Claridge's in London. But when it comes to AA's recognised ratings, Liverpool does not have a five-star hotel. Merseyside only has one - the Hillbark Hotel & Spa in Frankby. Liverpool has long had ambitions to have a five-star hotel. In the not too distant past, it was hoped that the historic Martins Bank building on Water Street could become the city's first. The Grade II* listed 1930s building closed as a bank in 2009 and there were rumours it would be repurposed as a luxury hotel. Those plans did not get off the ground, with a business hub proposed instead. Dale Street's Municipal Hotel also has ambitions of being five-star rated. The former home of the city council was acquired by property group Fragrance in 2016 and was converted into a luxury hotel in a ￡80m project. The hotel, operated by French chain Accor, opened its doors in May 2023. It has 168 rooms, 11 suites, a spa, a pool, a British brasserie, a tea room and the Palm Court cocktail bar. A number of reviews have referred to the Municipal as a five-star hotel and it has MGallery five-star status from Accor, but it is awaiting its official AA verdict.?

Disgraced assault MP Mike Amesbury to resign

Disgraced Member of Parliament Mike Amesbury has said he will resign, having been handed a suspended prison sentence for attacking a constituent, reports Liam Thorp. Amesbury, who represents the Runcorn and Helsby constituency in Parliament, told the BBC yesterday that he will begin the process of winding up his office before resigning his position 'as soon as possible'. This will trigger a by-election for his seat. Amesbury was handed a 10-week prison sentence, later suspended after an appeal, after he admitted assaulting Paul Fellows following a night out on Frodsham in Cheshire last October. Amesbury was suspended from the Labour Party after the incident and later left the party altogether. In his BBC interview, the 55-year-old said he regretted the incident but admitted he would have tried to stay on as a Member of Parliament if he had been given a community order and not a custodial sentence. A prison term - suspended or otherwise - automatically leads to a process called a recall petition which is likely to see an MP removed from office. Amesbury told the BBC: "I'm going to step aside at the earliest opportunity. I've got processes I must go through - there's a statutory process in terms of redundancies." Quizzed about his decision to continue to take his MP's wages in the time since his conviction, Amesbury said he had 'picked up some casework in prison'. He told the BBC he is likely to lose his family home as well as his job because of his sentence. Amesbury was originally sentenced to an immediate jail term of 10-weeks in prison and spent three days in jail before an appeal hearing at Chester Crown Court saw his sentence suspended, meaning he could walk out. That sentence was suspended for two years and the MP was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work while also going on an anger management course and an alcohol monitoring programme. In court, Amesbury was told his initial story about feeling threatened by Mr Fellows on the night in Frodsham last year was a 'pack of lies', but he insisted in the interview that he did indeed feel threatened and referred to the murders of MPs including Jo Cox and Sir David Amess. He said: "So, when someone approached me at ten past two in the morning it was quite natural to be on edge and anxious - and I got it wrong, I just saw red - a moment of madness which I will regret for the rest of my life."?

Call for 'immediate pause' to controversial Everton stadium parking plan

Liverpool City Council has been urged to put an 'immediate pause' on controversial parking restrictions around Everton's new stadium for fears that the move is already doing damage to local businesses, reports Liam Thorp.Last month, the local authority began an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) in the area around Regent Road and the surrounding streets close to the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, which places regulations on how and where motorists can park.The fact that these restrictions are currently in place not just on match days but at other times as well has caused huge controversy and concern for affected businesses in the area. Close to 20,000 people have signed a petition against the plans.Last week a tense and impassioned meeting of those affected businesses was held at the Hot Water Comedy Club, which is one of the businesses impacted. Cllr Carl Cashman, the city's Liberal Democrat leader was in attendance at the meeting and has now called for an immediate pause to the restrictions.Cllr Cashman said: "The parking restrictions around Bramley Moore were only meant to be for Match Days - that makes perfect sense and we fully support that but the council have ignored businesses and residents and pressed ahead with a 365-day restriction.“Businesses in the area don’t want this at all - they don’t feel like they’re being listened to. They’re already seeing a decline in trade - these are businesses that have been there decades as well as new ones who are driving regeneration."As well as calling for a pause in the restrictions while further consultation on the restrictions takes place - the Lib Dem leader has called for additional business parking permits to initially come at no extra costs to 'ease the transition.'He explained: “I’ve called on Liverpool City Council to take two steps to reset relations with the business community. One, immediately pause the parking scheme until they’ve properly consulted and worked it out - we can’t let businesses suffer. Two, that additional parking permits for these businesses should initially come at no cost.“Residents and businesses in Liverpool need three things - a council that listens, that works and that cares - and going off the current situation, Labour are failing on all three.”Last week, the council announced it would make amendments to the parking scheme including applications for more than 10 business permits to be accepted on a case-by-case basis. But campaigners and businesses said these changes don't go far enough to halt the damage being done to them.The city council continues to insist that the measures have been introduced under an experimental order so alterations can be made. A spokesperson said the council's highways team is now working closely with each business on a one-to-one basis to understand what alterations are required in order to find the 'right balance of controlling parking and supporting the businesses.'The council pointed out that the area involved is a large one and said some of the measures are the right ones for those streets, while others will need to be altered.?

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