BLOG: Clive Bleasdale

By Clive Bleasdale on Jul 11, 08 11:11 AM

I recently attended the inaugural charity dinner at the newly re-opened Midland Hotel in Morecambe with Weightmans' property partner Sian Evans as a guest of Bill Maynard of property developer Urban Splash.

Bill had told me about the project three or more years ago and the concept already caught my imagination then.

To be invited to see the finished product was an absolute delight bearing in mind my Mum and Dad had told me about the Hotel and its former glory having gone on their first dinner date there back in 1958.

Anyway, back to the present. Never a man for over-statement, Bill hadn't misled me. It is an absolutely fantastic venue. Re-energised into a real re-statement of the style the place ultimately once had and poised to help spearhead the re-generation of Morecambe. In the glare of the sunrise it is nothing less than breathtaking.

In the tough times ahead we need innovative projects like this to move property development and ownership forward. These qualities have been proved here in Liverpool on a project we worked on in the city for Rob Gutmann - Alma da Cuba - a project which related to an Urban Splash-owned building. When I originally viewed the building four or five years ago with Rob, before Korova acquired it from Urban Splash, I found it hard to visualise the finished product. It has not been hard to appreciate the vision since the venue opened which is carried on by its current owners.

We've been acting in more recent months for Liverpool City Council in its dealings with Urban Splash's £100m redevelopment scheme for Great George Street. The Tribeca scheme, next to the Anglican Cathedral, will create a striking new gateway to the city of Liverpool - incorporating shops, businesses, apartments and houses. It will take eight years to complete over a number of phases, and incorporate the efforts of several architect practices.

Perhaps less innovative but nevertheless important for an out of town location, we complete this week the disposal of premises to Tesco in Aintree for investment clients Fenwick Street Investments. This has re-affirmed the importance of our out-of-town retail locations for both businesses but equally important for our local communities.

These are tough times indeed but our private sector entrepreneurs working, where practical, with our public sector organisations will continue to deliver redevelopment and regeneration throughout the North West region.