Daniel Hynd, managing director of Promenade Estates, has welcomed approval by Liverpool City Council of its proposals to convert its listed headquarters into a boutique hotel.

“We’re going to add something special to Liverpool’s hotel offer in a location and a building that are second to none,” said Mr Hynd.

The approved plans will see the Waterhouse-designed building converted to a 43 bedroom hotel, enjoying views across St John’s Gardens to St George’s Hall and the Walker Art Gallery.

“This is a very special location that benefits from great infrastructure and heritage on its doorstep.  As investors in all the hotels we’ve developed we’ve got a great feel for the Liverpool market and look forward to taking the project forward,” added Mr Hynd.

Number 2 Queen Square was formerly the regional headquarters for Pearl Assurance and adjoins the city’s successful Marriot Hotel and a multi-storey car park, both of which Promenade developed in the mid-nineties.  The hotel is the fifth in the region to be developed by the Promenade team.

The popular Dr Duncan’s pub on the ground floor will be unaffected by the development, which forms the northernmost part of the 660,000 sq ft jigsaw that was Promenade’s redevelopment of Queen Square.  The building’s original refurbishment was undertaken by the Liverpool studio of Falconer Chester Hall (FCH), which has been retained to design the new hotel.

The redevelopment follows a spate of recent disposals by Promenade, including the fully-let Marine Point development in New Brighton to Aprirose, the Ramada Plaza leisure scheme in Southport to Bliss Estates and a major waterfront residential scheme overlooking Liverpool’s Albert Dock to Vista Fund.

The team behind Promenade Estates has successfully delivered four hotels in the region:

  • The Marriot hotels in Speke and Queen Square, Liverpool city centre
  • The Ramada Plaza hotel in Southport
  • The Travelodge at Marine Point in New Brighton

Pearl Assurance House was designed in the 1870s by Liverpool-born architect Alfred Waterhouse who was the leading exponent of the Gothic Revival and went on to become president of RIBA.  He is famous for the giving the world ‘red brick universities’ due his design of the Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool.  He also designed Manchester Town Hall, London’s Natural History Museum and the famous Prudential building in Holborn, London.