Plans for a £250m film studio-led regeneration scheme at Ashford International have accelerated following an offer for the housing element.
The council has agreed a £50m development loan and an operator has also been lined up for the studio space.
Ashford International Development Company, a jv between the government, Quinn Estates and Ashford Borough Council, said it has received a “significant offer” for 202 of the 302 homes planned at the derelict Newtown Works railway site.
The homes form part of a planning consent granted to Quinn Estates in 2020.
The scheme will see the development of four 20,000 sq ft film and TV studios, along with associated post-production offices and ancillary spaces, workshops and media village, which will see the listed train shed buildings retained, extended and repurposed.
As well as the housing, the development will also include a 120-bedroom hotel, alongside 62 serviced apartments and a conference space.
The council’s cabinet was told last night (30 March) that the offer, which will significantly de-risk the development, was now in “the final stages of its due diligence”.
The signing of a studio operator, however, is dependent on changes being made to the scheme and a new planning application.
The operator, as yet unnamed, has “specific specifications” that were not catered for in the original plans.
The report from the jv to the council added: “AIDC has been working to secure interest from the film and TV industry for a studio operator, and we are pleased to report they have engaged with a leading global studio operator.”
Ashford council has now agreed a £50m loan facility for the AIDC to develop the studios and workshop space, subject to the completion of the due diligence process and the granting of a planning permission that is satisfactory to the film studio operator.
The loan will either be repaid on completion of the development from the sale proceeds or through a lease to an operator on a long-term basis.
The council has also agreed to pay £30,000 for a redesign of the studio facility, in order to submit a revised planning application. A further £100,000 has been set aside for further due diligence required to finalise the transaction.
Part of the funding has come from the £14.7m handed to Ashford in the first round of distributions from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.
Speaking after the meeting, Ashford Borough Council deputy chief executive Ben Lockwood said: “This scheme, subject to an amended planning consent for the studio and workshop space, with a reputable studio operator secured and with the council’s support together with the successful Levelling Up Fund bid, provides a once-in-a generation opportunity to redevelop this nationally significant railway heritage site into a thriving economic driver for the area.”
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