Work to resume at Admiral's Quay development in Ocean Village, Southampton (From Daily Echo)

Work to resume at Admiral's Quay development in Ocean Village, Southampton

3:23pm Friday 4th December 2009

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CONSTRUCTION of one of Southampton’s flagship developments is set to finally resume next year, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Homes giant Barratt last night committed to reviving work on the Admiral’s Quay development in Ocean Village.

Building will begin “in earnest” at the end of 2010, and although no exact start date has been set, they will want to be under way before planning permission expires in April.

The announcement – a major boost for the city – comes 17 months after the multi-million-pound project stalled. Just three of a planned row of five blocks of flats and two of up to ten restaurants and bars have been built.

The prime waterfront site was put up for sale last July, as potential buyers for the £7m plot were sought.

Its sales office was shut and transformed into a waterfront cafe, while the site remained half-finished.

There were major concerns it might never be completed, as house prices in Southampton continued to plummet and flats remained unsold.

After failing to find a suitable buyer, Barratt have taken the site off the market and opened talks with Southampton City Council about builders returning to the site.

Today’s news revives hopes that Ocean Village will one day provide a new waterfront heart for the city and rival Portsmouth’s successful Gunwharf Quays.

As there will only be “minor amendments” to the original scheme, no new planning application will be needed. Planning permission ends in April, so some builders will return to the site in the spring to ensure it does not expire.

Lance Else, special projects manager at Barratt’s Southampton division, said the accommodation mix had yet to be confirmed. “Work on Admiral’s Quay will start in earnest at the end of next year.”

The firm also wants to relocate the 95-year-old Calshot lightship, which guided vessels in and out of Southampton Water for seven decades but has been a landmark on dry land at Ocean Village.

Councillor Royston Smith, Cabinet member for economic development, said: “Although we would like to see them start sooner, we are pleased Ocean Village is back on track.”

He said the announcement reflected increasing confidence amongst developers.

“We have reached the bottom and developers are starting to think very seriously about restarting schemes such as these,” he said.

The news comes just days after the Daily Echo reported that the city was showing early signs of economic recovery, with house prices rising and unemployment falling.

The average house price in Southampton reached a low of £133,030 in June and bounced back to £137,786 by September. The 3.6 per cent local increase compares with a rise of 3.2 per cent across England and Wales over the same period.

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