City investment opportunities: South & Wales

Major development opportunities to keep an eye on in The South and Wales Otterpool Park, Kent Location Between Folkestone and Ashford, J11 of the M20. Size 1,730 acres Value circa £2bn Development potential 1m sq ft of commercial space, up to 12,000 homes, community facilities and transport infrastructure. Planning status Promoted through Local Plan. Awarded Garden Town Status in November 2016. Investment type/opportunity Joint venture or partnership for whole site or early phases and investment in infrastructure. Project time frame A strategic growth options study identified the area as appropriate for strategic scale of development. This will form part of the evidence for a new draft Local Plan (scheduled for adoption in 2019).  Application due to be submitted in 2018 with a decision anticipated in 2019. Otterpool Park Garden Town is a proposal by Shepway council and its partner, Cozumel Estates. It would be a completely new district located around Otterpool Manor Farm in Kent, by Junction 11 of the M20. It also includes the site of the former Folkestone Racecourse. The proximity of the M20 and Westenhanger station means the area benefits from connections to London, but also the Eurotunnel and Port of Dover. Planners and Shepway council are in discussions with Network Rail in the hope of bringing a high-speed rail service to Westenhanger station. This is a major scheme that would not only inject much-needed housing supply into the county but also business space, schools and parks. The development would complement further regeneration projects planned in the county, including Kent Innovation Corridor and Dover’s Enterprise Coast. While public consultations have thrown up a number of issues, including water shortage in the area and environmental impact, the aim is to have work started on the project by 2020. Eco-Bos, Cornwall [caption id="attachment_890463" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Eco-Bos, Cornwall[/caption] Location Between St Austell and the A30 in Mid-Cornwall. Size 2,471 acres Value circa £280m Development potential  Mixed-use development opportunity including 1,500 new homes, employment and technology park, community facilities, infrastructure improvements, tourism and recreation, solar park and renewable energy infrastructure. Planning status Strategic allocation in the Cornwall Local Plan. Outline planning consent for 1,500 homes at West Carclaze in March 2017 Investment type/opportunity Joint venture, forward funding and development funding Project time frame Actively seeking investment partners to take forward the development Eco-Bos, a joint venture by Imerys and Orascom, is a proposed redevelopment of redundant sites in Cornwall’s historic china clay mining district, turning them into a series of new sustainable communities. The plans involve creating low-carbon communities across 531 acres, with 371 acres of green space and lakes. The first phase of the scheme is concentrated on the West Carclaze district of Cornwall, where 1,500 homes will be delivered. The wider project also has ambitions for an electric car hub, schools, GP surgeries and other community facilities. The project intends to support the mid Cornwall economy and as well as injecting housing supply for workers and providing community facilities, the area will link to the town of St Austell. Infrastructure investment is integral to the project. Cornwall council’s emerging Local Plan has identified the regeneration of the Clay Country Park as a priority. The scheme also has the support of the Homes and Communities Agency and the government has selected it as one of 13 garden villages in the country. The venture is named after the Cornish word “bos” meaning “home”  and is currently at the most advanced stage of all garden villages and the first model of its kind. If successful, it could be replicated in other parts of the UK as an example of a working green community. Swansea Bay, Swansea Location Straddles Oystermouth Road and adjacent to St David’s Shopping Centre Size 27 acres Value £500m Development potential Plans for the site include the redevelopment of St David’s Shopping Centre to include a cinema, library, 3,500-seat digital indoor arena, a digital square, pedestrian footbridge over a main road, homes or a hotel, shops and restaurants. Planning status Outline plans approved. Investment type: Joint venture, forward funding, development funding. Project time frame It is hoped that work on the first phase will start in 2018. Plans include a new retail destination with a cinema, a 3,500-seat arena and 13-storey residential block or hotel. A pedestrian bridge will link the two sections of the scheme, while later phases include demolishing a civic centre to create a new city beach with an aquarium and a digital science centre. It is hoped the project will stimulate further developments in the city, particularly in the seafront area, and improve links with the University of Swansea and the Tidal Lagoon project. Other projects New City Place, Milton Keynes Comprises 225,000 sq ft of grade-A office space and 200 private rented units in a 30-storey tower. The £150m Doone Silver Kerr-designed scheme is in pre-application and stakeholder consultation phase. Milton Keynes Development Partnership has appointed Sterling Property Ventures as development partner and it is seeking forward funding for the project. Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, Bristol Regeneration is planned for 172 acres, with water frontage adjacent to the mainline railway station in the city centre. Developing an arena, homes, leisure and increasing business opportunities are all on the agenda over the next 20 years, with a £300m investment from Bristol University for a new campus. Dover Enterprise Coast, Kent [caption id="attachment_890464" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Dover’s Western Docks revival[/caption] A series of schemes around Dover, Deal and Sandwich to transform the town centres and waterfront that will better link the coast with London and Europe. Outline plans include 14,000 new homes, a new marina, port-centric industrial buildings, road improvements, a shopping and leisure complex and major development at Discovery Park, Kent’s 203-acre science and technology campus. The park also benefits from Enterprise Zone status. Central Cardiff Enterprise Zone, Cardiff This is a 140-acre business district in the city centre which has scope for delivering a new wave of commercial space into the area. Both Callaghan Square, which has potential for 500,000 sq ft of business space, and Central Station, where there is opportunity for 340,000 of offices and retail, fall within the zone. Development already under way includes Rightacres’ 135,000 sq ft One Central Square and the 150,000 sq ft Two Central Square – new Welsh headquarters for the BBC – and JR Smart’s 10-acre mixed-use Capital Quarter.