Development services of real estate

Tender description

Swansea Council is delivering a programme of development to transform Swansea City Centre. The Council has reviewed its delivery strategy and needs to introduce a strategic Private Sector Partner to assist in implementation of the remainder of its strategy with risk transfer to this partner. The Council now wishes to explore market interest in this proposition. Swansea Council is a substantial land owner and has a number of significant and strategic sites it would like to see delivered over the short medium and long term and to identify further opportunities from its land holdings and potentially those of its partners. The Council therefore considers that the partnership created would be flexible to allow for additional sites to be included (or removed) as appropriate, in discussion with the selected partner. Swansea Council is undertaking a significant initial programme of regeneration with a number of schemes being delivered, including a 3 500 capacity indoor Digital Arena, 100 000 m2 flexible workspace for Tech Industry (1 of Swansea’s key growth Sectors), a major leisure anchor, and Student Accommodation for Swansea’s 2 Universities. The Council has secured City Deal funding and this, together with Welsh Government and substantial direct Council funding, is delivering these schemes. Swansea Council wishes to find a partner or partners (corporates or consortia), with whom it will undertake the delivery of a major regeneration agenda for Swansea. The project could be structured as a partner development arrangement or through a joint venture to deliver multiple sites over an extended period of time (potentially 20+ years), appropriately apportioning risk and reward. The Council is keen to explore all options of innovative property delivery models. If a joint venture structure is adopted, this could take the form of a contractual joint venture or involve the creation of a joint venture vehicle. Proposals for the most effective structure are welcomed as part of the market sounding exercise. The Development Partner would provide most, or all of the risk capital required from this point, as the Council has already made a very substantial financial commitment to the development initiative, and this continues. However, the Council anticipates additional public sector grant funding may be possible to source, and would lead on seeking to access this. The Council envisages that its partner would assemble all necessary Professional Team Members required for each project, and instruct and fund it. The partner would lead occupier engagement (unless it is deemed more appropriate for the Councils’ Team to do this) and secure all necessary legal agreements with identified parties. It would also lead on the planning process, and in securing any/all necessary third party land. The partner would also organise construction contracts, secure all necessary funding to develop the schemes, and manage the build process itself. The partner would be take all key project risk. Depending on the specific inputs, each parties outputs would relate to agreed shares of project development profit, and project income/capital value created. The Council is also interested in the opportunity to consider the creation of a long term holding vehicle(s) to deliver income streams and capital value growth, with co-investment from the Council with its partner, realised from some or all of the development schemes. The Council is the Freehold owner and controls the occupation of the sites set out in Appendix 1 and anticipates that they are in the Councils priority order of delivery. Swansea Council welcomes comment on these proposals and/or alternative proposals as part of this market-sounding exercise and, in particular, as to whether its aspirations are achievable and the opportunities presented by the project are sufficiently attractive to the market. Swansea Council welcomes thoughts on whether the council should look at only the Swansea opportunities or look at a larger regional marketing campaign. Swansea Council is seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced partner or partners (corporates or consortia). The partner or partners (corporates or consortia) should demonstrate that they have a suitable track record, capability, and financial standing to lead the project through from concept to completion.