The go-ahead was given by Liverpool’s planning committee today for a 100,000 sq ft office block at Princes Dock, now part of Peel’s Liverpool Waters.

William Jessop House, adjacent to the multi-storey car park, spans eight storeys and will provide Liverpool with top-level grade A office space, says developer Peel Holdings.

The decision comes just days after property consultants Colliers produced a report revealing grade A rents to Manchester were almost twice as expensive to rent as similar graded office space in Liverpool.

The multi-million pound development is the first to be won by Peel since the council granted outline consent in 2013 for its Liverpool Waters mast plan.

Peel has named the new block after the 18th century civil engineer.

It says the building draws its design inspiration from the location’s history as part of the city’s historic port. Taking stacked shipping containers as a visual cue, the designers have produced a unique building which is unashamedly modern yet in-keeping with the colour palette and scale of the current Princes Dock buildings.

The building will have sub-dividable floor plates of around 10,000 square foot of lettable space with the ground floor having the option for leisure usage “to help bring further animation to the waterfront location”.

Peel Director Lindsey Ashworth, the man in charge of Liverpool Waters, said: “This had been a long journey since we started with the planning process several years ago and it is very comforting to be in a position to have the first detailed planning permission through.

This is the end of the beginning of Liverpool Waters - Peel's Lindsay Ashworth

“We brought forward this application as a signal of our commitment to, and belief in, the city’s commercial office market and would like to thank the city council for their swift resolution of our application which now allows us to take the project to the next stage.

“This has been a team effort to get to this stage with the many Liverpool organisations and entities involved continuously helping and supporting us. With an outline planning permission that spans over three decades, this is the end of the beginning of Liverpool Waters.

“Our focus now is on identifying an occupier for some or all of the building which would unlock the development.”

Mayor Joe Anderson welcome the decision, saying: “Liverpool Waters is an extremely ambitious scheme which has the potential to be a game changer for north Liverpool over the next few decades, and I welcome this progress. We are supporting Peel’s marketing of the development, which will deliver vital jobs and investment for the city.”

 The Liverpool centred project design team for William Jessop House includes: Planning consultant: ARUP; Architect: KKA Architecture; Engineering consultancy: Bingham; M&E Engineer: Zerum