Ramsgate Pleasurama construction work “to begin”

The Pleasurama site Photo Barry James

Thanet council says Ramsgate Development Company Ltd, the owner of the Pleasurama site, has now instructed construction works to begin on the seafront site.

According to a statement from TDC from now until the end of 2017, the company will undertake remedial works to the hoarding and other necessary building preparatory work. The hoarding will remain in place for security. Kent County Council confirmed there is a licence in place for the hoardings with a requirement for them to be maintained.

Approved plans for the Royal Sands site include a 60-bed hotel, 107 residential apartments, leisure facilities, cafés, shops as well as a children’s playground.

The TDC statement says the scheme is expected to employ up to 200 people while under development. Once completed, it is expected to provide long-term jobs in hospitality and retail as well as servicing the residential areas.

The council will be meeting the owners regularly and has assigned a dedicated project officer to monitor performance.

Details of recruitment and which construction firm will be used have not been released. An expected timeline for works has not yet been revealed.

Image via The Friends of Ramsgate Seafront

The site has been empty for almost two decades.

Derelict years

It was destroyed by fire in May 1998, two years after then-owner Jimmy Godden took it over.

Originally planning permission was given to Mr Godden, now deceased, for a shopping centre on the land but, in 2001, when it became clear this was not going to materialise Thanet council bought the site by compulsory purchase.

In 2004 planning permission was granted for a 60-bed hotel, 107 residential apartments, leisure facilities and retail.

The deal was headed by development company SFP Venture UK but work never got underway.

In April 2013, Thanet council rejected a bid for SFP to buy the freehold of the site before project completion.

SFP said it was unable to secure the necessary funds to complete the scheme under the existing development agreement.

In February 2014 cabinet members agreed to axe the development agreement with SFP, but were unable to reclaim the three 199-year leases for the site because they had no long stop date in the deal.

Buy out

Talks with Cardy Construction to take over the project by buying out SFP were revealed in September 2014. A due diligence process was conducted into Cardy Construction Limited the same year. Cardy had to prove it had the funds for the scheme via credit checks, company and company personnel checks; There were also checks on three year audited accounts and evidence was required to show that Cardy Ramsgate Limited purchased 100% shares of SFP Ventures.

Contracts, which TDC say included a long-stop date, were signed with Cardy Ramsgate Ltd – an independent company created for the scheme – in March 2015.

Cardy Ramsgate Ltd completed a £3.515 million payment to Thanet council for the site freehold  in July 2016. This amount is listed as £3 million by Land Registry.

Cardy Construction went into administration the same month.

Changing names

Michael Stannard, then the sole director of Cardy Ramsgate Ltd, resigned his role on August 15, 2016.

Mr Stannard had pledged to complete the project by 2017 but his resignation passed the scheme to Anthony Hollis who was appointed as director on August 12, 2016.

The firm was renamed Ramsgate Development Company Ltd.

Mr Hollis is a director of Aldress Developments SE Ltd, formerly SFP Ventures (UK) Ltd until a change of name last year.

Shaun Keegan, one of the founder directors of SFP Ventures with Mr Hollis, resigned his directorship in 2014.

Documents on Companies House reveal two people with ‘significant control’ of the Ramsgate Development Company as Colin and Robbie Hill. Both are listed with an address in Geneva.

They are involved with the Panama-based  Mintal Group, which has a £3million charge on the seafront site.

Colin Hill, the son-in-law of Mr Keegan, was also a financier for the previous developers SFP Ventures.

Contract

The contract with TDC stated the project must be completed within three-and-a-half years, which would imply a date of January 2020 if taken from contract completion or 2018 if applied to when the deal was first signed. If it is not developed then the council has an option to buy it back.

It is not clear what sum TDC would need to pay, the £3.5 million the freehold was sold for or the market value of the land which, if developed, could potentially exceed £30-40 million.

The cliff wall adjacent to the building site remains in the ownership of the council, which is responsible for inspections and its maintenance.

8 Comments

  1. The cardy Ramsgate limited wasnt a buisness for three years before so how can they do checks? 2018 is the deadline. The 3M was paid decade too late and by the puppet to make it look like a local co could pull it off, only for the family of SFP to rename SFP and carry on as before. These paragraps must have been copied n pasted many many times for many many years. Take OUR land Back from these shysters. 2 DECADES OF LANDBANKING FOR NO EXCHANGE OF MONIES. THE STEALING OF OUR PROMENADE. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF OUR ROAD ALL FOR NOTHING. THIS FAMILY SHOULD BE SUED.

    • Sad sad reading. Morally bankrupt wealthy people taking advantage of pathetic government and legal system, milking it any way they can. Could blame council for being inept but even if they did proper due diligence the system is broken. The building company going bankrupt owing 18 million but carrying on under different name. Shameless people.

  2. I have just looked out of my window and was not in the least surprised to see a huge flock of porcine creatures flying in the direction of Never Never Land.

  3. There is a small block of new flats to the East of this development. Still unsold after 2 years. Do these people really believe that they are going to make money from this? It sounds like a tax dodge to me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went into liquidation soon after starting work. I.e showing just enough effort to not get sued.

  4. This sounds like it could be a fantastic bit of the jigsaw in the redevelopment and reinvention of Ramsgate. I hope they get it right and are able to bring a much welcome boost to that area. Creating more attraction in Ramsgate and drawing in more outside money will hugely benefit the area and all of its residents.

  5. When a process with regard to development and property looks overly complicated and protracted then it generally is.Something isn’t right and something dodgy has been going on for years. Ramsgate residents, who have seemed to have been ignored have been vocal and constructive in their belief that a vital part of their seafront would be developed to the benefit of the town, visitors and local commerce. It has played an unfortunate role in potentially providing a large part of the seafront jigsaw, long awaited and overdue and has been hacked by bureaucracy, land grab and greed. TDC have to take some responsibility for this. I sincerely hope that the wheels start turning giving back to the community and indeed the South East a new Jewel in the crown of what is such an historic and important seafront.

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