Mayor’s Vision Joint Venture Opportunity Presented To Top Private Investors

Over 60 top developers and strategic investors enjoyed a beautiful day at the English Riviera yesterday when the Torbay Development Agency (TDA) hosted a Regeneration Joint Venture Bidder’s Day.  Over 100 organisations have now formally registered their interest.  During the morning session representatives from the TDA, Bevan Brittan and Knight Frank outlined the commercial opportunities within the Bay, marking the latest step to bring the Mayor’s Vision into reality.

Torbay’s Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Cllr Chris Lewis, gave the welcoming address and highlighted the work that has already been done; including the new Paignton Library and Information Centre, Brixham Fish Quay and Market, new offices and Innovation Centres together with private sector plans for Torwood Street and Princess Gardens.

Leading developers and fund managers from all over the UK enjoyed a warm and sunny Torbay welcome on the terrace of the Imperial Hotel in Torquay, which provided an excellent vantage point from which to appreciate the Bay, before a packed agenda of presentations detailing the investment opportunity of the Joint Venture.

In addressing the delegation of investors, Cllr Lewis said:

Torbay has already invested £50 million in improving the built environment to kick-start the local economy and create a better quality of life for residents. But we are now looking for further investment from the private sector to add value to our proposals and help us deliver even bigger economic benefits to both our resident and business community. Partnership is the only way forward. We have the vision and the commitment; the private sector has the expertise and the investment needed to make Torbay great again.

The developers were shown detailed proposals for a number of Mayor’s vision sites including Paignton Town Centre and Union Street, Torquay and then taken on a coach tour of all the sites identified in Phase 1 of the Joint Venture.

Formal expressions of interest must be submitted by 6th July. In the interim, national marketing of the opportunity continues.

The Joint Venture offer was well received by the potential investors, one commercial agent commented:

This is a very interesting development opportunity and the passion from the public sector speakers in the room is palpable.” Another commented: “Partnership is crucial to the success of any regeneration project; I really noticed a difference in Torbay, with the commitment from the council and the TDA to bring about change for the better, compared with some other local authorities that I have worked with.

Steve Parrock, Chief Executive of Torbay Development Agency confirmed that he was pleased with the event and overall response, he said:

We now have over 100 expressions of interest, and over 60 investors attended yesterday’s event to find out more about the exciting opportunities in Torbay. We know from earlier events that the Mayor’s Vision has put Torbay on investors radar and that we have already changed many investors’ perception of Torbay. For some Torbay was previously seen as introvert coastal resort which shunned significant change and deterred outside investment.

In order to deliver the best value to the local community, Torbay’s Joint Venture follows the European procurement process of ‘Competitive Dialogue’, meaning that interested parties need to submit their outline proposals before a deadline date, in this case – 6 July, to enable the council and the TDA to select a shortlist of the best proposals for the Bay, which will then go to tender after a period of dialogue to agree the tender particulars.

Duncan Thomas of leading commercial property agent Knight Frank said:

The Competitive Dialogue offers developers a robust proposal with commercial integrity, to ensure that Torbay gets the best deal out of the investment, at the same time as offering a commercially viable project.  We are not asking the developers to prepare costly architectural plans at their risk; we are asking them for their ideas, commitment, and a proven track record of delivery.