Shocked campaigners protesting against building student halls and an underground car park in a graveyard have lost their fight to stop the development.
Planners have agreed the 262-bedroom student accommodation scheme can go ahead – but the developers have to wait for permission to open graves and remove the bodies to another consecrated location.
The seven-storey halls will stand on the site of the former St Michael’s Church, Pitt Street, Liverpool, which was destroyed in a German air raid in May, 1941.
Architect Tim Groom, of Formroom Architects, Manchester, said any remains would be carefully located and removed.
“There are a number of legal things we have to do,” he said. “We need consent from the Home Office and the church, and any bodies found will, with the agreement of the vicar, be re-interred.
“We can’t just go in and churn the place up, there are things that have to be done.”
Planners commented that they hoped the development would kick start other investment in the area, close to the city centre.
Formroom is also part of a partnership building a 17-storey tower block to house 650 students at Lancaster Street, Birmingham.
The University of Liverpool has also recently awarded a £34 million contract to build flagship halls for more than 700 students on the site of a car park in Liverpool city centre. The development increases the university’s accommodation to rooms for more than 4,000 students.
Other student hall deals reflect the market’s appetite for investing in student accommodation.
Ahli United Bank has invested £38 million in London and Leeds.
London School of Economics has a 19-year lease on Sidney Webb House, which is home to 448 students and has a projected yield of 6.96%.
Broadcasting Tower, Leeds, is home to the Leeds Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology as well as some student flats.
In Scotland, Miller Construction has won two multi-million pound student hall contracts from Heriot-Watt University to build accommodation at Galashiels and Edinburgh.
