🚧 No ‘quick buck’ for Folca developers
Plus: Tontine Street closed for sewer repairs, and popular play area set to reopen after refurbishment
Developers behind the planned transformation of a landmark town centre building say they hope to avoid the difficulties faced by other high-profile property schemes by creating homes to rent rather than for sale in a “risky” market.
During a behind-the-scenes site visit at the former home of Folkestone’s branch of Debenhams, Arcvelop directors Marc Turnier and Alastair Cross told the Dispatch they are well aware of the challenges facing those looking to deliver properties aimed at the more exclusive end of the market. Sluggish sales at the Shoreline development, where one two-bed flat is currently listed for £1.95 million, and the apparent collapse of the Leas Pavilion project amid questions over financing are two examples.
Arcvelop’s plans for Folca 1, the Edwardian section of the one-time department store at the junction of Sandgate Road and Bouverie Place, include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats as well as the restoration of commercial space at street level.
But rather than looking to market the residential units for sale upon completion, and risk being unable to find buyers, the firm intends to retain the properties and rent them directly to tenants.
“There is so much risk with development and taking on a property like this,” Mr Turnier said during our tour of the building. “In this market at the moment there is not enough confidence to go and sell these units. It’s too risky.
“So we look for assets that we can create for ‘build to rent’. Folkestone as an area has got a really good tenant profile and we’re in an area that could be a real thriving part of Folkestone. But it is fundamentally about risk. If we’re going to take on millions of pounds of debt to do this, the last thing you want is to be relying on 24 months of sales to try and get out of a deal.
“Because we’re architect developers we do come from a different angle. We make things look well designed, well considered, but they have to work commercially. We’re very conscious about risk, and unfortunately I think people are falling foul at the moment of doing ego projects and not considering the exit hard enough.
“They’re not being true to what’s actually going on in the market at the moment, and that is a very, very risky model and route to take at this moment in time. There’s a lot of contractors, a lot of developers that are going under. It only takes one bad development, and that’s what you’re seeing.
“That is fundamentally because people are overestimating on the exits, or underestimating the build costs, and they’re just getting it fundamentally wrong.”
Reminders of the building’s former life as a busy high street department store are everywhere you turn, but when exploring the upper floors you can also see evidence of its residential past—in the proportions of the rooms and in surviving details like fireplaces, staircases and ornate windows. The developers hope this underlying architecture can be used as the basis for the sensitive restoration of the building, retaining many of its historic features.
Mr Turnier said: “It’s a big property that needs a lot of work doing to it, but it has a lot of characteristics that we look for.
“The building is beautiful on the outside. It obviously needs a lot of love but there is no need to make any large exterior changes, it just needs restoring, and actually what we can focus on is bringing the inside up to modern standards.”
“There’s a sense of ownership with these buildings,” Mr Cross added. “As we would be looking to keep hold of these buildings we are almost caretakers, so if something happens to it we are the face of this building. For us, because people know who we are, if this building starts to fall apart we are going to take responsibility for the building itself rather than just make a quick buck and move on.”
Folca 1, which Arcvelop is set to transform, and Folca 2, the section of the former Debenhams which faces onto Sandgate Road, were purchased by Folkestone & Hythe District Council in May 2020 following the closure of the department store the previous year.
Although the two parts were previously linked, they are now in the process of being separated. The council remains determined to produce a suitable mixed-use scheme for Folca 2, which could include working with the NHS to deliver much-needed new medical facilities in the town centre.
Outline plans for Folca 1 were approved by the council’s planning committee in May. Voting on whether to support the officers’ recommendation before them—that prior approval be granted under Class MA permitted development rules allowing conversion of commercial property to residential—the committee passed the motion by 11 votes in favour to 1 against.
Redevelopment of the site appears to be a crucial part of the wider regeneration of the town centre, with the district council driving a multi-million pound project which is seeing the nearby site of the former bus station in Bouverie Square transformed into a park and improvements being made to the pedestrian precinct in Sandgate Road.
“We’ve worked closely with the council,” Mr Turnier said. “The council selected us out of five or six bidders because they liked the vision that we had and what our track record is. It’s a long-term play, we’re not here to make short-term wins.”
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News in brief
🚧 Tontine Street is set to remain shut to through traffic until the middle of next week to allow Southern Water to complete repairs to a collapsed sewer. The road had to be closed on July 22, and the ongoing work is currently expected to be completed on August 5.
🚍 Subsidised £1 bus fares between Folkestone’s railway stations and the harbour are now available. The discounted tickets, which are being funded by Kent Council Council, replace the dedicated Reach the Beach bus service which operated in previous summers. The initiative offers £1 single adult bus tickets on Stagecoach routes 102 and 103 from Folkestone Central, and route 10 from Folkestone West, to the harbour until August 30. Spencer Dixon, KCC’s deputy cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We want everyone to be able to enjoy what Folkestone has to offer this summer and we hope these £1 fares with Stagecoach will help make days out more affordable for families, and visitors alike. Whether it’s a day on the beach, meeting friends for an evening at the Harbour Arm, or enjoying everything the town has to offer, we want travel to be one less thing people have to worry about.”
🛝 The children’s play area at the Lower Leas Coastal Park is due to reopen to the public on Friday following an extensive £750,000 revamp. The refurbished facility will feature “more equipment and more inclusive elements” than were part of the previous play area. Following feedback from residents, there will also be additional seating as well as buggy and cycle parking. An official opening celebration is expected to be held on Tuesday, August 4.
🔍 Nearly £5 million in cash and assets linked to crime has been recovered by Kent Police’s financial investigators. The force says that during 2025/26 a total of 61 confiscation orders were made, which saw assets totalling £1,820,667 seized from Kent criminals following investigations into their finances. Additionally, 80 civil cases were successful and saw a total of £3,104,391 forfeited or recovered. DI David Godfrey said: “This is a significant result and is testament to the determination of our financial investigators, who will dig deep when it comes to finding money and assets built up by fraudsters, thieves and others while they were breaking the law. The Proceeds of Crime Act is an important piece of legislation because it supports our officers as they seek to deter criminals from restarting illegal enterprises. Without the funds, organised criminality can be harder to return to.”
🥁 ‘We can be Kent’s home of independent music’
Good evening, and welcome to On The Town, your weekly guide to what’s on in Folkestone. Now, it has been clear for some time that the live music scene across the country is under threat, with the charity Music Venue Trust reporting the loss of 30 venues nationwide in 2025. Beyond the immediate impact of livelihoods lost and fewer places for a night out,…
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All the best, Rhys
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Bet that was a nostalgic tour!