Hotel plan for Royal Insurance building approved

Plans by Wirral-based developer Ashall Property to convert the Grade II*-listed Royal Insurance building in Liverpool into a £12m hotel have been approved.

The building on North John St has been disused for some time and is on the Buildings At Risk Register.

However, new plans by local architects Falconer Chester Hall for a sympathetic conversion have won the support of historic buildings advisor Peter De Figueiredo and have now been given the green light by the council.

Roger Williams of Preston Brook-based Ashall Property said: “To bring back to life this iconic Liverpool building will require careful and well co-ordinated construction works.

“FCH have designed a scheme fitting of the building’s history and we are delighted to be the developer of this superb building which will provide a top quality niche hotel and meeting destination for the city.”

Adam Hall, managing director of Falconer Chester Hall, said: “This is a project which we were extremely pleased to be asked to work on.

“We were aware of the building and its history, and we knew that any proposals needed to satisfy the demands of its location within a conservation area.

“Our aim has always been to produce a scheme that restores the building’s status as a property of which the city can be rightly proud.”