This one’s been in the pipeline for a while and could be an interesting read! Plans have recently been unveiled for a significant development on the old Go Outdoors site in Chatham Town Centre.
You may recall how Go Outdoors closed in August 2020, just four years after it opened. This would have been mid pandemic and we guess it’s quite likely that closure was due to the pandemic and not being able to agree a new contract with the landlord.
About the development
So, what’s the plan and what can we expect? Well, the area has been identified as part of the Chatham Town Centre Masterplan as part of redevelopment into 335 homes. This is a massive development and it will be interesting to see if it actually comes into fruition!
Buildings will be a mixture of six to 12 storeys, with ground floor space being kept as commercial with a central plaza and nature play area. The nearby car park which was closed in 2022 due to anti-social behaviours could be reinstated for use by the public and residents.
The CGI below that shows the scheme, illustrates how significant the redevelopment of the town centre could be and this scheme playing a huge part.
We have included an illustration below that outlines the scheme floorplan which spans across four different buildings on the site:
The developer is Arpenteur, which specialises in urban regeneration and redevelopment. You can view some of their past projects here and current projects here.
Named ‘The Brook’, Arpenteur’s proposals include:
- Around 355 high-quality and sustainable new homes
- New commercial space to reinvigorate this part of the high street
- Reinstating a multi-storey car park in the heart of Chatham town centre for the benefit of the whole community
- Sustainability measures including solar panels and green roofs
- Extensive landscaping and new public open and amenity spaces on site for existing and future residents to enjoy
- The creation of new wildlife habitats to encourage biodiversity on-site through the provision of green roofs and other planting
- Safe and engaging places to play to encourage outside activity for local children
About Arpenteur
An interesting thing to look at is the developer itself as whilst doing our research, we spotted that the phone number on the Arpenteur website was a mobile number.
For a developer who has several large-scale projects on their website, we found this a bit strange so thought I’d do some digging into Companies House and here are a few headlines from what we found:
- The business’ registered office is in Tunbridge Wells
- Companies house indicated the business was incorporated in 2019
- The last set of accounts (March 2023) outlined two employees
- The last set of accounts (March 2023) highlighted £83k cash in the bank and £51k of taxation/social security
- The business holds no charges and associated directors/companies also hold no charges
- Arpenteur has two directors who are also shareholders plus an accountant, acting as secretary
In addition to this, one of Arpenteur’s directors Adam Gaymer states on his LinkedIn profile that: Arpenteur was formed to acquire urban land, buildings and brownfield sites within the United Kingdom.
The problem with this all is, as far as we can see, there are no charges registered – it may be that the business has simply leased the sites, acquired on behalf of a client or we're missing something altogether.
We're sure all is above board, but it’s certainly a good reminder to ask questions if your due diligence turns up something you were not expecting!
The project is currently at Public Consultation stage, with the submission of views having closed on 25th March. We will endeavour to keep you updated as these projects progress!
