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St Helier parishioners will next week vote on whether a former care home on the outskirts of town should be sold for nearly £1.8m after ambitious plans to transform the site into sheltered housing and a day nursery fell through.
Parish-owned St Helier House on Westmount Road was put on the market last month for residential or commercial development – despite parishioners voting overwhelmingly in 2021 for the parish to sell the site to Andium Homes for £2.9m for development into housing and a new building for Westmount Day Nursery.
After several years of indecision about the future of the site, whose elderly residents moved out for safety reasons following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, the next step after that vote would have seen Andium – the island's social housing provider – put forward detailed drawings and proposals.
But the same property popped up for sale by tender with Quérée Property Consultants in August after six years of lying empty.
Bids of upwards of £1.75m were invited.
Pictured: St Helier House has been vacant since late 2017.
Constable Simon Crowcroft and the parish's Procureurs du Bien Public – who are responsible for safeguarding St Helier's funds – are now proposing that St Helier acceptsa bid on the seven-storey building of £1,775,000. Back in 2019, private developers previously sought to acquire the site, but the sale fell through and parishioners then agreed for Andium to take the lead.
The proposed transaction will only be able to take place if parishioners agree, with the matter set to be voted on at a Parish Assembly next Wednesday (25 September).
At the meeting, St Helier residents will also be asked to decide whether the parish should buy a former garage on the outskirts of town.
The Parish said 25-27 Vauxhall Street – formerly the AEA Tostevin building – "has been identified as a long-term operational base for the Parish's Street Cleansing Team".
Pictured: The location of St Helier House.
Constable Crowcroft and the Procureurs have recommended that the property be bought by the parish for £1,230,000 plus legal fees and stamp duty, and that a further £250,000 be spent on refurbishing the ground floor.
Parishioners will also vote on a proposal to accept a gift of developed land around Cyril Le Marquand Court, which has been offered for use as extensions to the Parish footways on Providence Street, Charles Street and Ann Street.
The Parish Assembly meeting will be held at 19:00 in the Town Hall. Residents wishing to attend can register HERE.
Ex-care home invites bids upwards of £1.75m as social housing plan falters (August 2024)
Parishioners give green light to St Helier House negotiations (2021)
Parishioners to vote on £2.9m St Helier House sale to Andium (2021)
Flammable cladding sparks St Helier home closure (2017)
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