Expressions of interest open for south quay shed

Expressions of interest are now being sought from people who are keen to lease the new south quay shed at Whitstable Harbour.

The building is being developed by the city council as a mixed use space for retail, restaurant, café, museum, exhibition and education activities, with the aim of creating an all-year-round facility with views of the working harbour.

It will have a large, internal courtyard, surrounded by converted shipping containers on both the ground floor and first floor with mezzanine deck.

Experienced individuals, businesses and organisations are invited to register their interest to become the council’s leaseholder and operate the site. At this stage, it is not a formal tender process and no decision has been taken yet about whether the site will be leased or run directly by Whitstable Harbour Board.

All the information from the expressions of interest stage will be used by the Board to inform their decision on the future management of the building, which will be taken in early 2019.

Chairman of the Whitstable Harbour Board, Cllr Robert Jones, said: “We’re at the market testing stage of this exciting project for Whitstable, so the expressions of interest will be very useful in helping us understand the ideas that are out there and how we can make sure we create the very best development for the harbour and the wider town.”

For more information and an expression of interest form, go to the Kent Business Portal. It must be submitted by noon on Friday 4 January.

The council is currently working with a local group on the potential for part of the development site to be used as a cinema. If this proves a viable proposal, then space will be allocated for this use and a suitable operator found. If it is not viable, the space will be used for another purpose as part of the overall south quay shed redevelopment project.

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