Foreign Investors to take over Southampton Royal Pier Waterfront scheme

The £450m Royal Pier scheme could be taken over by a foreign investor after the project’s current backer, KMG Capital Markets raised doubt over its viability.

KMG said scheme had "buildability concerns" following a report to shareholders.

In the report, the investors said concern had been raised over the disposal of a significant quantity of contaminated silts needing to be removed from the river bed in order to construct new platforms for the development.

It also said increased costs, together with future economic uncertainty triggered by Brexit had "caused significant impact on the value of this asset".

In a statement, KMG said: "We are currently reviewing the financial modelling, discussing with valuers and also considering several ongoing discussions with potential purchasers which reflect the uncertainty and caution surrounding the UK economy, real estate market and such large infrastructure projects in the UK since the EU referendum and the triggering of Article 50."

Developers RPW Southampton Ltd, said they needed new funding to progress and were are hoping that the new investor would buy the rights to develop the land within three to four months.

Council leader Simon Letts said he had recently held meetings with two potential investors and had confidence the project would progress.

He added: "Discussions are quite advanced and I have some confidence that it will progress.

"The Royal Pier site is the crown jewel of Southampton's development future, it's a major scheme for the whole of the South Coast."

Under the plans, which were unveiled fully in 2015, the Waterfront would be transformed into a thriving £400m development with a casino, five-star hotel, gourmet market and hundreds of homes.

They will include about 730 apartments, 47,000sq m of office space and between 40 and 50 shops, restaurants, cafes and bars running along the waterfront with the council initially choosing Morgan Sindall as their development partner.