CRUNCH-ED

Liverpool's St John’s £100m revamp on ice until 2012
Apr 17 2009 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

WORK to rebuild the tired St John’s Shopping Centre, in Liverpool, has been delayed for three years by the credit crunch.
Owner Land Securities won planning permission for the £100m overhaul of the city centre complex in June last year.
But the recession will now delay the start of the work, which includes the building of a new market hall.
Land Securities insists it is still committed to the project and expects demand will return by 2012 – the original year it was planned to finish.
Nick Davis, retail development director, said: “St John’s has always been a popular centre, but we recognised it was in need of modernisation.
“We consulted with stakeholders as to what improvements they wanted to see before submitting our plans to the city council last year.
“We received detailed planning consent in June and we will now be undertaking important preparation for a possible start on site in 2012.
“We would have been targeting a slightly earlier start, but the economic downturn has been more severe than we expected.
“We believe Liverpool is a strong city and we are confident we will have returned to normal levels of demand for retail floorspace in the city by the time of starting on site
“Our plans will deliver a major investment in the centre."
St John’s was built in 1969 and refurbished 20 years ago, but is showing its age.
Land Securities will deliver a completely new look to St John’s with glass walls and a food terrace with stunning views across the city on the first floor.
The current market will move to the extended first floor of the Williamson Square building that currently houses JJB.
Plans have been hit by the recession that has forced some of Britain’s best-known stores into administration.