The former Granville Bars in Ramsgate has been put on the market with a guide price of £750,000.
The ground floor and basement site is being marketed by Miles and Barr Commercial on behalf of the current owners Evans Kidd Ltd.
The property in Victoria Parade is being offered for sale and lease, with the leasing option available to be split into separate units at the ingoing tenants expense.
The ground floor is 6,620 Sq Ft and comprises three rooms, two of which were previously used as a restaurant area. The large room to the rear has a stunning ballroom with the original flooring. There is also a large kitchen block, a bar area, and two WC blocks.
The property was last sold at auction in 2019 for £310,000.
The Granville Bars has sea views and sits in the block designed by the famous architect Edward Welby Pugin.
It was a hotel between 1869 and 1946 before being sold by proprietors Spiers & Pond. The building also has 48 self-contained flats which are not part of the auction offer.
The building was Grade II listed in 1973.
In November 2019 Ramsgate community interest company Heritage Lab announced an ambitious project to create refurbished spaces for exhibitions, community events and conferences at the venue.
Heritage Lab had a legal agreement with the owner to buy the 999-year leasehold to the seafront Granville Bars. It had a year in which to raise the £485,000 needed to complete the deal and kick start plans to transform the site into a creative hub and world class events space.
However, the COVID crisis thwarted their attempts to secure the necessary funding.
Work was resumed after being granted £300,000 from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund in 2022 and this was followed by a grant of £77,300 from the Architectural Heritage Fund the same year.
A statement from Heritage Lab says: “The property has been put on the market as some of the complex legal issues are unresolved. We wanted to reassure everyone that this doesn’t mean we have given up!
“Having put in 6 years of hard work and had so much support and encouragement from the community we will continue to work hard at getting these issues resolved as quickly as possible so that we can then raise the rest of the money to match to our crowdfunding grant and capital grant which remains with the government until the issues resolved and the balance is raised.
“Everyone should have received their rewards by now however we are still waiting on giving some Crowdfunder rewards to our supporters. Please contact us at [email protected] if you need to collect your reward and we will be happy to help.”
The CIC is currently working on the conversion of the former Age & Sons restaurant in Ramsgate town into a community space, including cafe/restaurant, co-working offices, bar and event space.
The ground and basement areas of The Granville have not been in public use for more than 30 years.
In the late 19th and 20th centuries the site was regularly visited by princes and princesses, grand dukes, lords and ladies, writers, actors and the rich and famous from all over Europe.
With 26 spas and baths, a marble skating ring, theatre and ballroom, it was the premier destination of its day, with guests arriving on the privately chartered first class ‘Granville Express’ train from London.
It was commandeered as a military hospital for the Canadian Government in the First World War, and medical officers who served there include the first Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross and a future Nobel laureate.
It mainly treated patients suffering from shell shock, nerve injuries and injuries to bones and joints. In April 1917 the hospital accommodated 809 wounded Canadian soldiers. The hospital closed in the same year and was relocated to Derbyshire.
The Granville reopened in 1920 after a £60,000 modernisation. It was leased to the Empire Hotels Group in the 1930s.
A corner of the hotel was destroyed by enemy action on 12 November 1940. The building had closed and was fortunately empty during the raid. The bomb damaged corner was rebuilt in 2004 and became Granville Court.
In 1947, the hotel was converted into flats and renamed Granville House. For the next 30 years, the building was managed and then owned by William and Florence Hamilton.
The Granville was a popular venue for ballroom dancing in the 1950s and 1960s due to its sprung floor. The hall, demolished in 1982, was also used as a count during elections and to host private and civic functions.
In February 1956, the basement became a jazz club called The Cave. From 1974 until the 1990s, the building had a number of different owners. Its public bar closed for the final time in 1991.
