11 flats, a new cafe, and a new restaurant could all be built at the Bridge.
The owner of “a mix of dilapidated commercial, light industrial, and residential structures” wants to knock them down and replace them sparking “a positive catalyst for regeneration” in the area.
The buildings which stretch along the Commercial Road and onto the Bridge itself are currently home to a mix of unoccupied and under-used commercial units.
The front unit, making the corner of the Bridge and the Commercial Road, is currently home to a temporary RNLI charity shop at ground floor level. It used to be Beekers card shop (now further along the Bridge itself), and before that it was a bike shop.
The upper levels – which used to be home to L’ora’s restaurant – is closed to the public, and described as “inaccessible” in the planning application.
The planning application also warns of structural movement within the building, suggesting that scaffolding is needed to hold it up.
The units behind the Bridge – on the Commercial Road itself – include a former youth club and industrial units. What was once a Youth Centre on the first floor is now unoccupied, while a two-storey commercial building is described as being “in poor condition—damp,
rotting, and unfit for purpose”. It has only been used for storage in recent years.
Victory Construction – through Arctech Freelance Architecture – wants to demolish the entire block of existing commercial, light industrial, and residential properties, and build 11 flats and a café and restaurant unit in its place.
If permission is given, a café would be created on the ground floor on the Bridge, where the RNLI shop currently is, with a restaurant upstairs offering views over St Sampson’s Harbour.
The residential units would be created behind the Bridge – with ten of the flats having a dedicated parking space each.
Acknowledging the wider plans for the redevelopment of the Bridge area, including Leale’s Yard which sits near to the rear of the site, Niall Bougourd of Arctech Freelance Architecture has given details of how the new development will fit with existing and future developments.
“…the proposal does not seek to replicate the fragmented and utilitarian built form
currently on site,” he wrote. “Instead, it acknowledges the true significance of The Bridge — its industrial heritage, its evolving identity, and its role as a gateway community hub — and responds with a confident, forward-looking design that raises the quality benchmark for future development.
“The redevelopment of 32 Commercial Road provides a realistic, viable and policy-compliant opportunity to remove long-standing dereliction, improve visual amenity, increase housing provision, and reinforce The Bridge as a convivial and resilient centre for St Sampson.”
The planning application can be viewed at gov.gg with public comments welcomed until the end of this month.