The States of Jersey Development Company is seeking to turn former care facility Aviemore into 10 three-bedroom homes in a deal that could return up to £2.5m to the public purse, it has emerged.
But the potential value of the scheme is still less than what the Government was originally hoping to sell the St Martin-based site on the open market.
When the long-abandoned building – set in a rural area with views over the Royal Bay of Grouville – was listed for sale in January last year, offers “in excess of £3m” were invited.
However, Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan said last month that he was minded to accept an offer of £1.3m from the public-backed States of Jersey Development Company.
This was to supplemented by an “overage payment” subject to planning permission being received on a scheme to develop the site.
Now, following a bid to halt the sale by Deputy Alex Curtis due to concerns over the process and value of the deal, the Infrastructure Minister has released more information about the SOJDC’s offer and the previous bids received.
He revealed that five other bids were received and rejected – none of which were as much as the £3m asked for:
- £100,000 for “charitable purposes” – a bid rejected as it apparently “was not in line with the Government plan” and “did not reflect the true value of the site”. An option to return the site to Government ownership if it was no longer used for charitable purposes “was not agreed by the bidder”, the Minister said.
- Three bids ranging from £895,000 to £1m from “recognised local developers” – all of which were rejected as being “too low”, and none of which included an “uplift” payment following development of the site.
- £1.1m from an “independent developer” – a bid which was rejected “as the receipt of funds were subject to finance approval and subject to a potentially lengthy and uncertain timeframe of up to four years for completing the development”.
SOJDC’s offer was accepted as it offered the “best return to taxpayers”, the Minister said.
While they had separately spoken to the Parish of St Martin about a scheme, he said the Parish indicated that the site “did not align” with an affordable scheme, and that the site was also deemed “too remote from the village amenities for parish-supported tenants”.
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said in January that the sale of the site to SOJDC collect more than the £3m originally asked for due to the “overage” payment, but Constable Jean confirmed on Friday that the total potential payment expected was £2.5m.
“SOJDC are looking at two housing re-development schemes,” he explained in a report. “Its preferred scheme is to develop up to 10 x 3 bedroom semi-detached houses. The overage mechanism for such a scheme is to pay in addition to the £1.3m initial payment, a further £120,000 per house that is permitted up to a maximum overage payment of £1.2m making a total potential payment for the site of £2.5m.”
“The alternative scheme,” he continued, “is to refurbish and potentially extend the existing building to create terraced houses and apartments. Should any additional area be permitted on top of what already exists, a further £135.00 per square foot will be payable on the additional area that has a height clearance above 1.5 metres.
“SOJDC has produced high-level plans and consider the maximum additional area which would include an additional floor and an extension could also achieve a £1.2m overage, again making a total potential payment of £2.5m.”
The idea of selling off Aviemore was originally put in motion by Kristina Moore’s government, prior to the vote of no confidence against her. The plan was for the proceeds of the sale to go towards care leavers.
The Infrastructure Minister confirmed that the plan is now to create an Endowment Fund from which “funding would be available following the assessment of applications to support the realisation of personal aspirations, in addition to access to small rapid grants for urgent circumstances”.
Its objectives would be to promote educational advancement, support mental health and wellbeing initiatives and provide financial stability. The Minister said that partnering with an independent body “would also provide scope for the initial capital sum to potentially be augmented by new donations which could extend the Fund’s duration or increase the annual value of distributions to care-experienced islanders”.
Deputy Curtis’s proposal to halt the sale is due to be debated by States Members this week.