The developer Boxpark has lined up funding in principle to restore the Madeira terraces but has been unable to persuade Brighton and Hove City Council to enter serious talks.
Property Week magazine reported that Boxpark founder and chief executive Roger Wade had raised the estimated £80 million project costs in full in principle.
The magazine said that he had talks with institutional investors and pension funds – at least one of which attended an event in Brighton in the summer.
Mr Wade also told the magazine that he has had interest from hotel and flexible office groups, with a hotel likely to be central to a revived Madeira terraces under his plans.
His aim is to run the retail elements, as with Boxpark schemes in Shoreditch, Croydon and Wembley, and to maintain the public spaces through service charges.
Property week quoted council leader Daniel Yates as saying: “Boxpark hasn’t formally submitted anything and it’s hard to imagine what it would submit because it doesn’t own Madeira Terrace and we’re not looking for a developer to take on the project.”
Before Mr Wade set out Boxpark’s plans in the summer, councillors had already voted to seek support from government sources or the likes of lottery funding.
Those plans haven’t come to fruition yet despite a crowdfunding campaign which raised £465,000, including £100,000 from the council.
It seems likely that the council will exhaust all avenues to fund its step-by-step restoration plans under its current policy before contemplating asking a developer to take on the project.
The council aims to restore the arches as far as possible – at a cost of about £24 million – although Mr Wade does not believe that the council’s approach is commercially viable.
Rather than a conventional restoration, the Boxpark scheme would involve some redevelopment, including a widening of the upper prom.
The hospitality trade newsletter Propel Info said today that Mr Wade plans to restore the crumbling Victorian architecture and turn the area into an “internationally renowned leisure destination showcasing the vibrancy and creativity of the city”.
His proposal would, some believe, blend well with the council’s ambitious plans for moving the Brighton Centre to Black Rock, just west of Brighton Marina.
Mr Wade expects some of the commercial units along the revived Madeira terraces to be taken by restaurants, cafés and bars.
He said: “What it comes down to is the council doesn’t have the funds. I might want to drive a Ferrari 250 GTE but I can’t afford to. There has to be some reality in terms of what can be achieved. Let’s not talk pipe dreams.”
How could you possibly move the Brighton Centre to Black Rock;
Where would all the gypys park their caravans?
So, essentially if the Council can’t do it they won’t let anyone else. The council minions probably resent the ‘big timers’ trying to come onto their turf and make it a success. Perhaps they are wary about allowing private developers the opportunity to capitalise on public assets.
Either way, what they ought to be asking themselves is; what is the most beneficial to course of action for the local community, local economy and the profile of the area?
£500k from the government’s raised investment which will be administered ultimately by other, smaller private contractors who we all know up the invoice for any ‘government work’.
Or
£80 million from a developer with a series of successful projects and unparalleled experience in development who will be personally invested in the project’s success.
How about not spending millions on i360 and putting a BA sign on the seafront – crass.
Meanwhile, we have to ponder what the “commercial” proposals for the Marina and King Alfred have brought the past fifteen years or so. And indeed the Engineerium, which “Mike” Holland has put up for sale (no takers the past six months) after promising the earth (as he also did at the dismal Stanmer House, where the result is merely a glorified pub).
The Council needs to take a firm line over the Terraces rather than succumb to the “giss-us-a-job” spiel of self-styled “developers”.
So Mr Wade wants the Council Taxpayers to give him half a mile of Prime Real Estate and develop it into something that will return him a big profit at no cost.
Join us on Facebook where we are discussing this as the comments above are not correct ‘Madeira Terraces & Black Rock Past Present and Future ‘
so he doesnt want half a mile of the terraces to develop?
“unable to persuade Brighton and Hove City Council to enter serious talks”… no surprise there then..the officers are obstructive, small minded, jobsworths..
It’ll take them 5-10 years for the council to realise they haven’t got the cash, then it’ll be too late and a developer would have pull the rug. What a fantastic opportunity – Boxpark made places like Croydon and Wembley vibrant places to hang out. If King Alfred Leisure centre is anything to go on, don’t hold our breaths.
BoxPark would absolutely transform this area which is basically a wasteland during the week. The council seriously need to think what is the fastest way to get it redeveloped before it decays and further, see what Box have done in Croydon and Shoreditch is transformatory.