Lease agreements on the Waterfront

WQ.222/2018

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BY DEPUTY C.S. ALVES OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2018

Question

Further  to  the  Minister's  answer  to  Written  Question  185/2018  regarding  lease  agreements  on  the Waterfront, can the Minister advise –

1. how much is received annually from these leaseholds;
2. how much has been generated from the sale of leases/sub-leasing since the inception of the States of Jersey Development Company to date;
3. what dividends, if any, have been paid to the States of Jersey to date?

Answer

1. In 2004 the States of Jersey transferred various leasehold and freehold development plots into the States of Jersey Development Company Limited ("SoJDC") (formerly known as the Waterfront Enterprise Board Limited ("WEB")) as a capital contribution from the Shareholder. These land areas were the subject of an independent red book valuation at the date of transfer and are held on SoJDC's balance sheet under "Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company" at £20.2m.

The various leases that have been put in place on the Waterfront plots between the States of Jersey and SoJDC are at a peppercorn rent of £1 per annum.

In 2018, SoJDC is forecast to receive the following income from its leasehold land and property on the Waterfront:

£'000

• Waterfront Car Park  1,222
• Les Jardins Car Park  759
• Liberation Station  100
• Weighbridge  90

2. The following long leasehold interests have been disposed of to private third parties since the inception of SoJDC in 2011:

£'000

• Harbour Reach – capital receipt from sale of ground floor office (2016)  1,650
• Waterfront Hotel - capital receipt from sale of the ground lease (2017)  3,149
• JEC sub-station at Liberty Wharf (2017)  230

3. Profits from SoJDC's activities are either paid as a dividend, invested in public infrastructure, invested in acquiring further regeneration projects or recycled as working capital for future developments.

To date, SoJDC has paid the following dividends:

£

2012  840,317

2013  816,400

2014  816,400

2015  1,000,000

To date SoJDC (formerly WEB) has funded the following public infrastructure projects:

Funded out of SoJDC's initial £20million Share Capital (between 1996  £'000 and 2003):

• Waterfront Car Park and public park  7,858
• Waterfront Road Network, services and sewers  4,239
• Les Jardins de la Mer public park and La Fregate café  2,203
• Promenades around the Waterfront / Elizabeth Marina  1,406
• Stockpile removal & general site preparation works  1,322
• Boat Hoist at La Collette  1,000
• Public park around the Steam Clock and the Steam Clock  856
• Lorry Park wall & upgrade to marina lights  566
• Refurbishment of Havre des Pas lido  422
• Relocation of Immigration Department  128 TOTAL   20,000

Funded out of SoJDC's land sales (between 2003 and 2010):

• The  creation of a  new marina  services  facility (showers,  WCs and clothes  washing facilities) for the Elizabeth Marina boat owners at Harbour Reach at an estimated cost of £0.4m;
• Co-ordinated and directly funded the relocation of the buses from the Weighbridge, by funding the creation of Liberation Bus Station at a cost to SoJDC of £3m;
• Following the removal of the buses from the Weighbridge, SoJDC commissioned and funded the regeneration of the former bus depot into a new public square at a cost of £1.5m;

Funded out of SoJDC's development activities (since 2011):

• The creation of Trenton Square and new areas of public realm around IFC 1 and IFC 5 at a cost of £2.4m;
• The creation of 55 permanent parking spaces at Janvrin School at a cost of £0.75m;
• The widening (to create a footpath) and refurbishment of Drury Lane at a cost of £0.25m;
• The payments to Growth, Housing and Environment of £0.38m for sustainable transport initiatives; and
• A Ministerial Decision has been signed that has committed the transfer of the Liberation bus station (which has a value of £2.5m) as dividend in specie at the end of 2019.

Finally, SoJDC directly funds the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of extensive areas of public realm on the St. Helier Waterfront. These areas include: Les Jardins de la Mer, Marina Gardens (on top of the Waterfront car park), the Weighbridge Square, certain promenades around Elizabeth Marina and the landscaping and street lights on Route du Port Elizabeth, Rue de L'Etau and Rue de Carteret.