Growing Places Fund Investments

The Growing Places Fund

KMEP has been successful in securing capital loan funding and will continue to support multiple schemes throughout its area. These projects are now progressing and delivering the infrastructure and environment needed to support economic growth.

The current Growing Places Fund (GPF) projects are:

Chatham Waterfront, Medway: The project is delivering land assembly, flood mitigation and the creation of investment in public space required to enable the development of proposals for the Chatham Waterfront Development. A waterfront development site that can provide up to 115 homes over 6 storeys with ground floor commercial space and 115 parking spaces.

The GPF Investment = £2,999,000

Fitted Rigging House, Chatham Historic Dockyard: The Fitted Rigging House project is converting a large, Grade 1, former industrial building into office and public benefit spaces initially providing a base for three organisations employing over 350 people and freeing up space to create a postgraduate study facility elsewhere onsite for the University of Kent Business School. The project also is providing expansion space for the future which has the potential to enable the creation of a high tech cluster based on the work of one core tenant and pre-existing creative industries concentrated on the site. The conversion provides 3,473m2 of office space, of which 2,184m2 is allocated to two expanding businesses that would otherwise have relocated outside of Medway and potentially the South East of England as they grow.

The GPF Investment = £550,000

Innovation Park Medway, Chatham: The Project is part of a wider package of investment at Innovation Park Medway. The Innovation Park is one of three sites across Kent and Medway which together forms the North Kent Enterprise Zone. The vision for Innovation Park Medway is to attract high GVA businesses focused on the technological and science sectors – particularly engineering, advanced manufacturing, high value technology and knowledge intensive industries. These businesses will deliver high value jobs in the area and contribute to upskilling the local workforce. This is to be achieved through general employment and the recruitment and training of apprentices including degree-level apprenticeships through collaboration with the Higher Education sector. The Project will bring forward site enabling works on the southern site at the Innovation Park.

The GPF Investment = £650,000

Javelin Way, Ashford: The project aims to develop the Javelin Way site for employment use, with a focus on the development of Ashford’s creative economy. The project consists of two elements: the construction of a ‘creative laboratory’ production space and the development of 29 light industrial units.

The GPF Investment = £1,597,000

Live Margate, Thanet: Live Margate is a programme of intervention in the housing market in Margate and Cliftonville, which includes the acquisition of poorly managed multiple occupancy dwellings and other poor quality building stock and land to deliver suitable schemes to achieve the agreed social and economic benefits to the area.

The GPF Investment = £5,000,000

No Use Empty Commercial, across Kent and Medway: The No Use Empty Commercial project aims to return long-term empty commercial properties to use, for residential, alternative commercial or mixed-use purposes. In particular, it will focus on town centres, where secondary retail and other commercial areas have been significantly impacted by changing consumer demand and have often been neglected as a result of larger regeneration schemes.

The GPF Investment = £1,000,000

Rochester Riverside, Medway: The project will deliver key infrastructure investment including the construction of the next phase on the principal access road, public space and site gateways. This development is to be completed over 7 phases and should take approx. 12 years. The scheme will include: 1,400 new homes (25% of which are affordable), a new 1 form entry primary school, 2,200 sqm of new office & retail space, an 81 bed hotel, 10 acres of public open space.

The GPF Investment = £4,410,000

Workspace Kent: The project aims to provide funds to businesses to establish incubator areas/facilities across Kent. The project provides funds for the building of new facilities and refit of existing facilities.

The GPF Investment = £1,500,000