Southport town centre’s first Korean restaurant is due to open soon, creating 10 new jobs.
The new venture will open at 509-511 Lord Street in Southport, near the junction with Bold Street, after planning permission was granted by Sefton Council.
The owner of the business is Taeyeop Kim, who earned an impressive reputation for running the successful Korean Kitchen in Hillside.
His new venture will offer diners “a unique dining experience” while preserving the heritage character of a Grade II Listed building.
It is a further boost to Lord Street, which is enjoying a huge resurgence this year.
The new sky bar and rooftop terrace is due to open soon at The Grand, while Maverick’s bar has recently opened.
Earlier this month proposals were revealed for the transformation of the former Garrick theatre on Lord Street while work is underway to create a new climbing centre and cafe. Occulo Lounge, on the corner of Lord Street and Nevill Street, opened earlier this month.
The new Korean restaurant will be situated within the 509-515 Lord Street development, which was completed last year in an impressive £1 million restoration project by local firm Ironshore Global.
The firm spent a year redeveloping the four-story site, which stands on the corner of Lord Street and Bold Street, with the ambition of creating two new commercial units and nine new luxury apartments above.
The other commercial unit was occupied earlier this year by SEP Insurance Services Ltd.
The project has been supported by the Southport Townscape Heritage Project, English Heritage, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sefton Council, Southport BID and others.
It was built in 1905, with shops on the ground floor. Madam Luna, a ‘fancy goods dealer’, was one of the first occupants. The upper floors have been used as taylor’s workrooms, storage and offices.
Many people will remember it from the 1960s, when the retail units were occupied by Dolcis shoes and Robins, ladies and children’s outfitters; or by Denise Fashions in the 1980s.
The new Korean restaurant will create 10 new jobs with six full time staff and four part-time staff.
The proposal includes plans to open until 10pm seven days a week, including Sundays and bank holidays.
The planning application for the scheme was submitted by Keith Swain of Keith Swain Design, who wrote: “The application for this site involves the change of use from a shop to a Korean restaurant.
“The owner is fully trained and experienced at running this type of business and is clearly aware of all the requirements necessary for such an enterprise.
“The building is a multi storey block with numbers 509-515 Lord Street, Southport. It is a mixed use building comprising shops at ground floor (509 & 513), and apartments on upper floors.
“The design of the new use is a ‘Restaurant’ and involves full internal refurbishment and installation of new kitchen and carbon filtered extract flue, existing front retained unaltered, with signage depicting the new use.
“The restaurant will have up to 44 covers.
“The proposals have been designed to return the ground floor of the building to active use, whilst safeguarding the significant feature of its shop frontage, ensuring minimum impact on the character and exterior of the listed building.
“All of the fit out is removable and would not affect the heritage character of the building. The business will enhance both the listed asset and the Lord Street Conservation Area.
“Many of the ground floor spaces on Lord Street are under-used or vacant. This creates a number of issues for the buildings as lack of use leads to lack of maintenance, security is compromised and the area lacks an animated use at street level.
“It is crucial that Lord Street is able to maintain viable and sustainable uses for its ground floor level units to ensure historic buildings are utilised to their capacity and that they have a long-term sustainable future, compatible with their significance as listed assets.
“The proposal of a unique dining experience offered by an existing Southport business with an established customer base, will offer wider public benefit through the preservation of the ground floor as an active part of Lord street.”
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