“Enough is enough. This situation has been going on for years”
A decision has been made by Wirral Council over a derelict Wallasey office block after months of speculation about the future of the building.
Dominick House, the former government office building on St Alban’s Road currently towers over Liscard town centre but lies derelict with multiple windows either smashed or boarded up. The building closed in 2018.
Wirral Council was planning to sell its freehold for the site to Prospect Estates, the owner of the leasehold, in 2022 but this was postponed. Since then, the building has fallen further into a state of disrepair.
In March, there were calls by Liscard’s councillors for immediate action to be taken over the building. They said Wirral Council had been pursuing leaseholder Prospect Estates to make the building safe.
Liscard councillor Graeme Cooper previously said: “Enough is enough. This situation has been going on for years, and the people of Liscard and Wallasey deserve better than to have such a ruin at the heart of our town.”
According to a notice published by Wirral Council, a decision has now been made regarding the building by the council’s regeneration director Marcus Shaw. No details were provided in the notice including what decision has been taken and whether public funds were involved.
The council said the decision on May 23 was not for publication. This is because it is “information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person including the authority holding that information” and “the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”
Wirral Council was approached for comment.
Dominick House was built in 1970 and is centrally located in Liscard close to the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre. A lease was granted in 1970 for 99 years which means it will expire in 2069 with Wirral Council receiving £16,727 a year in rent.
A report in 2022 said after the government moved out of the building, “the nature of the building has meant that it is now not readily lettable as offices to a single occupier and marketing efforts by the previous lessee have demonstrated that there would be no demand for this use. The current lessee advises that it has stripped out the building in anticipation of a conversion to residential use.”
The building was put up for sale in 2019 for £230,000 but this did not go ahead. Prospect Estates, who have previously not responded to requests for comment, later took over the building’s leasehold.
Plans were put forward for 45, 50, and 70 flats but things did not move ahead despite the building being a hub of antisocial behaviour.
The sale of the site of £230,000 never went ahead despite the council saying in 2022 it seemed to be the only realistic way to bring the building back into use.
In 2023, Prospect Estates tried to sell its leasehold but this was later withdrawn. It has previously been approached by the ECHO for comment.
