Liverpool-based property firm EW Developments has started work on the redevelopment of Jamaica House in Toxteth.

The building on Upper Parliament Street, which was originally a key part of the Liverpool 8 community but now lies derelict, will be transformed into 25 luxury apartments.

Opened by Leonard Airborne in the 1970s, Jamaica House was one of around 40 nightclubs and social clubs which were once located in Toxteth.

In 1983, two years after the riots, Jamaica House featured as part of a BBC special report into the racist door policies facing Liverpool’s black community. Whilst many city centre clubs operated a discriminatory whites-only entry policy, venues such as Jamaica House and others in L8 were a sanctuary for party-goers and musicians of all ethnicities.

The building later became a hotel but has now sat abandoned and boarded up for more than 15 years. EW Developments will transform Jamaica House into 25 apartments, with car parking facilities and private access for residents. Liverpool firms R&R Design and M-Tech Electrical have led on the architectural and M&E packages respectively.

EW converted the Our Lady of Good Help Church in Wavertree into 16 new flats earlier this year following its 2019 renovation of an abandoned Victorian building into the successful Phoenix Hotel in Kirkdale.

James Winters, co-founder of EW Developments, who runs the business alongside architect Rob Edwards, says: “This is an iconic building in Liverpool history and EW Developments is proud to play a part in restoring it with a luxury finish.

“Jamaica House is in a prime location for access to Liverpool city centre and we believe this redevelopment can help breathe new life into both the building and Toxteth community as a whole.

“All of our sites are delivered with a luxurious finish and Jamaica House will be no different. I am so excited to work on this building, with so many memories for so many people, and bring a modern site to the forefront of L8.”

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