Liverpool property may gain from the cultured approach
Released on = July 9, 2007, 10:56 am
Press Release Author = Jimwatson
Industry = Real Estate
Press Release Summary = Mention the name Liverpool to anyone and a stream of stereotypes will almost certainly be the first response. Some may be positive, connected with the Beatles and football. Others, particularly those emanating from anyone in Manchester, will focus on the negative image of urban blight, crime and unemployment.
Press Release Body = Mention the name Liverpool to anyone and a stream of stereotypes will almost certainly be the first response. Some may be positive, connected with the Beatles and football. Others, particularly those emanating from anyone in Manchester, will focus on the negative image of urban blight, crime and unemployment.
Liverpool has certainly seen its years of decline as the port which provided its wealth via an empire that ceased to exist disappeared and the city, not helped by the political controversies when Derek Hatton\'s militants took over the city council in the 1980s. But now Liverpool, like so many post-industrial northern cities, has sought to reinvent itself, with property at the fore.
Each city has gone about the task differently. Manchester, for instance, has used its Olympic bids and subsequently the Commonwealth Games, as well as a grand vision for redevelopment thought up after the 1996 IRA bomb, as catalysts for renewal. Leeds has looked to establish itself as a regional capital for Yorkshire. Liverpool, however, has sought to work directly on the image issue by bidding for and gaining the status of European Capital of culture for 2008.
For some, visiting Liverpool in 2008 will be a chance to enjoy the variety of music and entertainment, as well as discovering unheralded attractions such as the Tate Liverpool art gallery. But the lasting image is what the city hopes will bring in the investors and move the property market upwards.
The Liverpool City Council\'s world heritage officer, John Hinchcliffe, is certain that the Capital of Culture status will act as just such a catalyst. Already, he states, it is happening: \"The amount of private investment that is going into the city [is worth mentioning], particularly the Grosvenor Paradise Street development which is wholly privately funded - something like £920 million worth - and that\'s around the edges of the World Heritage Site, in the buffer zone rather than within the site itself.\"
Noting that people are \"starting to move back into the city centre\" (in common with other redeveloping cities), Mr Hinchcliffe added that \"Liverpool is now undergoing a remarkable urban renaissance\", contrasting the problems of the 1980s with the development of the city now, which he says now offers a vibrant mixture of good nightlife, growing IT and biotech industries, with art galleries and theatres to add to the youthfulness provided by a large student population.
Clearly the city is pinning a lot on its year in the sun, but if the venture continues to attract property investment in both the commercial and residential sectors, as well as providing a positive image change, Liverpool could become a major boom area for those looking to invest in property in the years ahead.
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