Liverpool City Council is set to purchase a vast area of waterfront land for £1.
A report will go before the council's cabinet tomorrow recommending the sale, which would give the council ownership of 55,000sq metres of land at Kings Dock.
The council already holds the majority of the dock estate under three 999 year leases.
That includes the land where buildings such as M&S Bank Arena, the Convention Centre and Exhibition Centre sit.
There is also vacant land where the former arena car park once sat - but the new purchase comes as part of the authority's strategy to continue regeneration on the waterfront.
The council estimate that the ACC Liverpool complex has generated a £1.6bn economic impact for the city since its creation in 2008 - and Mayor Joe Anderson said the transformation of the Dock through the building of the arena and exhibition centre was one of the council's "great success stories".
He said: “Our iconic waterfront demands a world class offer and we have a masterplan to ensure that continues to happen at Kings Dock - so we continue to attract the biggest names in entertainment, the biggest brands in the conference sector and millions of tourists from around the world supporting thousands of jobs.
“This transaction for £1 ensures the future direction of the site and our intention is to market the sites as soon as possible by seeking expressions of interest this autumn.
“Liverpool’s waterfront has blossomed over the past decade but we are not finished yet - the next phase of development at Kings Dock will arguably be more transformational than what we have already achieved.
"Its growth will also help further cement the city’s growing global reputation as a great city for investment, leisure and to visit, work and live in.”
The report recommending the purchase also said it would help the council gain more control of development on the dock.
The report says: "The Council’s ambition is to create a world-class, vibrant leisure-based mixed use destination that will continue the appeal of the City’s famous waterfront by increasing footfall, visitor spend and delivering investment and jobs.
"Securing the freehold legal title and therefore more control of Kings Dock will
assist the Council in these objectives."
Cabinet will decide whether to approve the purchase at a meeting tomorrow.
