Massive waterfront flats plan for Plymouth's Sutton Harbour

'A planning application for the development will be submitted in the near future'

Plymouth could have yet another huge block of waterfront flats - but only if they can be sold at a profit. Regeneration specialist Sutton Harbour Group Plc wants to transform the deserted North Quay House office block into 10 “high-quality” apartments, plus three shops or offices.

The AIM-listed company expects to submit a full planning application soon and said it has investors interested in funding the Sutton Harbour project.

But it warned it will only go ahead if it can make a profit on the redevelopment after getting its fingers burned building the neighbouring Harbour Arch Quay skyscraper.

That development was hit by soaring costs meaning SHG made a £2.629m loss on the nine-storey building even though all flats were sold.

SHG has also announced that after-tax losses almost doubled to £3.836m in 2023/24 and NatWest bank had insisted it sell off Millbay ’s King Point Marina and other assets to reduce a loan of £21.7m down to £11.8m by next March.

Nevertheless, the company is keen to redevelop North Quay House after demand for offices slumped following the Covid pandemic. The five-storey office block will be vacant by this autumn and is ripe for repurposing.

In its newly published accounts for 2023/24, SHG said: ““The group intends to redevelop the North Quay House office building into 10 residential apartments, three office/retail units and car parking space within the coming year. A planning application for the development will be submitted in the near future.”

The company said that each of the 10 flats would have three bedrooms and said the appetite for the flats in Harbour Arch Quay, which sold out, shows there is demand for waterfront living. The document said: “The configuration of the apartments is informed by the proven demand for the Harbour Arch Quay apartments.”

It said that “in light of lessons learned” from the Harbour Arch Quay project it will look carefully at how it choosed contractors and suppliers and said “procurement methodology is yet to be confirmed”. It said two specialist development lenders had shown “strong interest” in the project but warned: “The development will only be progressed when the group has achieved strong visibility of a satisfactorily profitable outcome.”

The 16,000sq ft building, which overlooks Sutton Harbour Marina, has been used as open-plan offices for the past 28 years but has seen tenants such as accountancy firm PKF Francis Clark move out.

It sits on the corner of North Quay and Hawkers Avenue and is next door to the Discovery Wharf apartment block and close to Harbour Arch Quay.

SHG has said that with demand for office space in Plymouth having weakened, the cost of refurbishing North Quay House to modern standard office space was unlikely to generate enough cash to justify the investment. It is therefore looking at the residential market.

If plans are submitted, North Quay House will join a number of potential waterfront residential proposals from a range of developers. These include proposals for the Shepherds Wharf development on the derelict former Plymouth Fruit Sales site at Sutton Harbour which would see a 29-story block of flats, with a hotel at the top, and neighbouring apartment blocks of 23 and 12 floors.

Plans have also been revealed for a 30-storey tower and three other buildings with gardens on the roof to be built on a derelict piece of land at Derry’s Cross. Developers envisage Crescent Green containing 300 flats and a 114-bed hotel, plus 120 parking spaces, on the 1.5-acre former ITV television studios at Derry’s Cross,

SHG itself has plans for a £60m skyscraper on the eastern side of Sutton Harbour. Construction of Sugar Quay - which, at 21 storeys, would be just three floors lower than the Beckley Point student flat tower which overlooks the city centre - was due to begin in 2023, but last year SHG said it will look at changing its strategy in light of economic factors and how long it would take to construct the apartments in one go.

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