Roger Hannah represented Clear Channel UK Limited who owned part of the land that now forms part of the John Lewis retail store in the 1 billion Liverpool One retail development. The land was used for advertising purposes and produced a significant advertising income.
The land extended to about 0.33 acres and clearly had development potential. Grosvenor sought to argue that in the no scheme world the only scheme that would get consent was a comprehensive redevelopment of a significant area of Liverpool and as such our client’s land had no development value. We resisted such a proposition and engaged architects, planners and barristers to demonstrate that development was possible and that the comprehensive development was part of the scheme and should be disregarded.
We negotiated with Grosvenor over a 4 year time period to achieve fair compensation which resulted in a £1.4 million settlement after protracted negotiations. Grosvenor’s initial offer was less than £500,000. The case demonstrates that at times it is necessary to produce the technical and legal justification to support a compensation claim. In such cases it is important to have a good professional team from various disciplines to represent your interests.