The project, which is currently under development at the Esplanade, has been condemned by critics who fear that the States are taking unnecessary risks with taxpayers’ money by allowing the government-owned Jersey Development Company to press ahead with the scheme.
At the weekend, hundreds of Islanders turned out to protest against the project in an attempt to get the development halted.
Many accused ministers of not listening the public’s concerns.
- 6 – The number of office blocks proposed for the site
- 470,000 sq ft the amount of office space proposed by the completed finance centre project
- 20 – The number of prospective tenants supposedly in talks to move into the development
- 16,500 – The square footage to be taken by Swiss bank UBS, with the option of a further 7,000 sq ft
- 2,000 – The number of people who attended a demonstration against the project in June 2015
- £95 million – The amount of profit the Treasury Department estimates the completed development could return to the States according to a valuation report by global property experts DTZ
The protest followed a similar one in June when around 2,000 protestors created a ‘ring of defiance’ around the site.
Following Sunday’s protest, Treasury Minister Alan Maclean has once again moved to reassure Islanders that no public money is being used to fund the finance centre.
Instead the JDC has secured bank loans to pay for the development, which is being completed in phases to minimise risk.
He said that the Jersey International Finance Centre would provide significant benefits to the Island that would not be possible if a private developer was undertaking the project.
And he said that he and Chief Minister Ian Gorst remained ‘willing to engage with anyone who would like to discuss any aspect of the development or the company’.
Senator Maclean added that allowing the JDC to develop the site means that the States are able to ‘control the use and quality of any building’ and ensure that 50 per cent of the land can be allocated for public use.
He said: ‘The States Assembly voted to set up the JDC in 2010 with a remit to maximise the value of publicly-owned land at a time during a recession when the market was not delivering quality office space.
‘For the avoidance of doubt the company is not run by civil servants but property professionals.
‘By developing our own land we are able to control the use and quality of any building or facility, including in this case more than 50 per cent of the land being allocated for community use which no private profit-driven developer could afford to do.
‘It also allows the additional profits to be reinvested into regenerating St Helier.’
He added: ‘The main public concern appears to be around the perceived risk to public money but that is not the case,’ he said.
‘The JDC has a strong balance sheet with £54m of assets and the development is being undertaken only on a phased basis – one building at a time.
‘No construction work on any building will commence until a tenant or tenants have been secured with enough legally binding agreements that mean the cost of constructing the building has been covered before building works commence.’
