Plans for new apartments above controversial Liverpool Hooters bar

Nine new apartments could be created in New Zealand House, above the controversial Hooters bar in Liverpool city centre.

Under the plans, vacant former office space could be converted into seven three-bed apartments and two two-bed apartments, housing up to fifty people.

Proposals were initially submitted in January, by Wroot Design on behalf of their client, and work has begun on the site according to documents published by Liverpool City Council.

No external alterations are to be made to the building, according to the plans, which documents said would “provide accommodation for a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 50 occupants at one time.”

A design and access statement added, “the main aim of the design is to bring life back into the vacant building and provide a positive population within an underused area” and “the application supports the need for varying unit types to sustain population levels and to address the issues of urban density.”

The document states that each new apartment would include bedrooms, furnished bathrooms and living/kitchen areas all facing out onto Water Street to the front or the Old Churchyard to the rear.

Hooters controversy

A premises licence was agreed by the council for Hooters in February last year in the property previously occupied by the Newz Bar. It prompted a public outcry across the city, including from the former Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, and has caused controversy in a row over signs put up outside the building without planning permission.

Earlier this year, an appeal by Hooters against Liverpool City Council denying them planning permission for two large illuminated signs outside the Water Street venue was dismissed.

In a bid to keep the brand insignia up, Hooters sought permission from the local authority planners to put up smaller, differently designed signs to be put up outside the venue, however this attempt was also rejected.

Despite this, the two illuminated signs, put up last November, can still be seen outside the bar.