A vacant former enterprise data center building in Liverpool, the UK, could be demolished to make way for two apartment buildings.

Located at 122 Old Hall Street, Liverpool City Council is set to vote on a proposal by Packaged Living Limited (PLL) that seeks to demolish an existing four-story data center next week. The project has been recommended for approval.

As reported by local publication the Liverpool Echo, PLL aims to replace the data center with two apartment buildings - one with 25 stories and the other 19 - creating 434 homes.

PLL first submitted its application in 2023, with the scheme anticipated to see £100m ($130m) in investment.

A previous application from Prospect Capital was approved for the site, and would have seen it developed into two apartment buildings - one with 27 stories and the other with 50 stories, dubbed Ovatus and Ovatus II - though it did not progress.

In 2027, at the time of the Ovatus projects, the data center was being used by retailer Shop Direct. The company lodged complaints that the construction could see disruption to the power and data lines beneath Black Leeds Street serving the data center, which would be “disastrous to its business" and that “no explanation has been provided as to how these would be protected during the construction phase.”

The data center was later decommissioned, and Birkenhead-based construction company Stredder Construction stripped it out following its vacation in 2018.

In 2020, Prospect Capital sold the site to PLL.

The current building was developed in the 1980s by the Moores family to host the data center of their Littlewoods retail company. Founded in 1923, Littlewoods was merged with Kays Catalogues to create the Littlewoods Shop Direct Group in 2004, becoming the Very Group in 2019. Littlewoods previously had its headquarters in a nearby tower block, but moved elsewhere post-acquisition.

The building is notable for its fully glass-covered facade, which reports say reflects light from the building to help keep it cool.

Liverpool, located west of Manchester in the UK, doesn't have a particularly prominent data center market. Some eight facilities are based in and around the city, with operators including nLighten, Liverpool City Region Data Centres (LCRDC), and AIMES. LCRDC launched a new data center in April of this year.