Major plan to regenerate former police headquarters

A landmark former police headquarters is set to be bought by the government's housing and regeneration agency.

Canning Place in Liverpool city centre was home to Merseyside Police for more than 40 years, first opening its doors in 1977.

The 2.64-acre site is situated near Liverpool ONE shopping centre and the Albert Dock.

Homes England has been named as the preferred bidder to buy the site, and it has submitted proposals to transform it into a mixed-use waterfront development, likely to comprise of residential, hotel and retail, leisure and commercial spaces.

Merseyside Police began vacating and relocating to Rose Hill, off St Anne Street, in 2021.

Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said the move to the new headquarters, which officially opened in March 2022, had saved the force approximately £550,000 each year.

She announced last year Canning Place was being put up for sale and said the money recouped would be reinvested into modernising and updating Merseyside Police's stations and buildings.

The PCC, working with the Merseyside Police estates team, will now work with Homes England through the final stages of due diligence and site master planning with Historic England and Liverpool City Council, with the aim of exchanging contracts later this year.

Once the sale is completed, Homes England will look to select a development partner and secure planning consent from Liverpool City Council for its vision for the site.

Eamonn Boylan, chief executive of Homes England, said: "Canning Place is a historic site in a prime location on Liverpool's iconic waterfront.

"Once the purchase of the site is completed, we will work with Liverpool City Council and Historic England to agree a masterplan that delivers a high-quality vision for the development that respects its waterfront setting, before selecting a development partner to transform the site into a mixed-use development fit for a new generation."

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