Plans for a high end city centre food and drink market cleared their latest hurdle today after councillors cleared it to sell alcohol after a marathon council meeting.
The decision means Duke Street Food and Drink Market will be clear to open as soon as work on the massive derelict building it is set to occupy is finished.
The market, in a warehouse next to Chinese restaurant The Mayflower, is set to include a restaurant, six kitchens, a sushi bar and a variety of artisanal produce and speciality drinks.
And applicants Graffiti Spirits Group promise the majority of the market will be a showcase of leading independent Liverpool talent.
The company already runs city bars like Salt Dog Slims, Santa Chupitos and El Bandito.
To get the licence approved, it had to negotiate an earlier closing for an outdoor area at the back of the building.
Graffiti Spirits Group co-founder Matthew Farrell was at the licensing meeting this morning and vowed the venue, which sits in an area of the city densely populated by bars, wouldn't be disruptive to people living in nearby buildings.
He said: "We are not looking to have an establishment where there is widespread drunkenness and we'll have systems in place to stop that happening.
"Anyone who is being drunk and disruptive will just be removed.
"That's not something we want, it's certainly not in keeping with the type of environment we want to create here - this is a place we want families to be able to come to."
He said the market will be different from others in the city, like Baltic Market, because customers will have to have a table before they can order any food or drink.
The negotiations mean an outside area of the market will close at 5pm to address neighbour's concerns about noise and privacy, with the rest of the market shutting at midnight at the latest.
Neighbours from nearby buildings had raised concerns about noise and security - but those at the meeting this morning said conversations they'd had with the applicants meant they were more confident these could be addressed.
The decision is still open to appeal to the magistrate's court.
