But what has the States-owned developer completed in the past and what projects has it got coming up?
Some of the JDCs completed projects:
The Weighbridge regeneration
In early December 2007 work began on regenerating the Island’s former bus depot at the Weighbridge. The £1.1 million project was the first step taken towards delivering the States-approved Hopkins Masterplan, which provided a new vision for the Esplanade and surrounding areas of St Helier.
The newly pedestrianised area was opened in 2008 and now hosts regular seasonal food markets and craft fairs and a popular year-round pétanque league enjoyed by town workers.
The Island’s bus service and users were given new facilities attached to Liberty Wharf, which were also developed by the JDC.
Waterfront hotel – the Radisson Blu
Acknowledged by the JDC to be one of the company’s most controversial projects, the Radisson Blu Hotel opened in November 2007.
Ten years earlier the JDC, then acting as the Waterfront Enterprise Board, had been asked by the States to market the site as a venue for a four or five-star international hotel.
Following that the then Planning and Environment Committee approved the design of the building and the States went on to negotiate the lease of the ground.
However, just one year after opening the building won the ‘Carbuncle Cup’ when readers of architecture website Building Design voted it the ugliest building in the British Isles in 2008.
The Radisson and its 195 four-star rooms have continued to provide accommodation for thousands of tourists and business visitors as well as hosting conferences around the year.
Albert Pier housing
With its wavy rooftops and views over the Harbour, the Albert Pier housing project has been a huge success for the JDC.
Construction began in 2000 to provide 75 social rented apartments and 78 first-time-buyer units on land adjacent to the Albert Pier.
Local architects Nigel Biggar & Partners won a competition to secure the contract. Construction was completed jointly between Island firm Cameron’s and French construction company Spie Batignolles.
The States Housing Department selected first-time buyers for the properties and the Jersey Homes Trust still manage the rented apartments at the site.
The whole project cost £26.5 million and took three years to complete.
Golden Jubilee Needle
Weighing around 20 tonnes and rising to a thin point that sits 14.25 metres high, the Golden Jubilee needle was unveiled by Prince Charles in June 2004 to commemorate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee two years earlier.
The £200,000 sculpture can be found at the Albert Pier and was made from Cumbrian slate from four quarries. In total 415 individual discs, chosen for their quality and colour, make up the structure. The were assembled in a factory into stacks of 16 discs that were then joined together at the site. A steel cable runs through the centre of the piece and holds the design, created by celebrated UK sculptor Richard Perry, together.
Liberty Wharf
Liberty Wharf is a sprawling complex that was once an old abattoir building.
The development comprises 63 apartments, the Island’s new bus station, a retail section featuring shops, cafés, a bar and restaurant and two office buildings that have a combined floorspace of 90,000 square feet.
The project began in 2005 and took five years to complete. It was built by the JDC’s development partner, Island Developments Ltd.
Most recently formal wear and wedding clothes hire specialist Moss Bros announced it was due to move to Liberty Wharf later this year. It will fill the second-last remaining shop space in the complex.
Steam Clock
Named Ariadne, after one of the first steam ships to sail between England and the Channel Islands, Jersey’s steam clock was commissioned by JDC forerunner the Waterfront Enterprise Board.
Since being unveiled in 1997 it has been a consistently controversial installation that many cite as a waste of £126,000 of taxpayers’ money.
With the backing of the States WEB commissioned a ‘performance clock’, asking for it to involve a theme that tied in with the nearby Maritime Museum.
Sculptor Gordon Young designed the structure, working with clock makers Smith of Derby, and based his work on one of the Island’s original paddle steamers – Ariadne.
The unusual timepiece is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest steam clock. Although it has encountered minor technical problems over the years, Ariadne continues to chime, bubble and squirt water nearly 20 years after being switched on.
Ongoing and future projects:
Jersey International Finance Centre and the Esplanade Quarter
It has been impossible to ignore the growing spat over the JDC’s plans to develop the Esplanade car park.
The company is responsible for delivering the Jersey International Finance Centre – a complex of six modern offices – as part of the wider Esplanade Quarter masterplan that was approved by the States in 2008.
Planning permission has been granted for two of the six buildings and the site’s large underground car park, with a planning application for a third building currently awaiting determination by the Planning Applications Committee.
In total the six buildings provide 470,000 square feet of grade A office space, which politicians say is needed to ensure Jersey’s future success as a business and finance hub.
Others, however, claim that the extra offices are not needed and that the government should not be involved in development at all.
And before ground is broken the JDC is required to demonstrate it has a sufficient number of legally binding pre-let agreements from tenants. Earlier this year the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel launched a review of the project, which is expected to continue for a number of months.
Former Jersey College for Girls
For years the former Jersey College for Girls stood empty and disused on Mont Cantel. But, from next year the well-known building will begin to be transformed into a 187-home housing complex.
The JDC is due to redevelop the site to offer 107 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses, as well as 40 social rented apartments and 40 discounted first-time buyer units.
Last month they began marketing the development and are now hoping to secure buyers for the open-market homes. The whole project is due to be completed by mid-2018.
Zephyrus and Westwater apartments
The JDC has two more major housing complexes planned.
The Westwater and Zephyrus apartment blocks will sit on unused land next to the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Zephyrus will comprise 69 units, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom penthouses spread over five buildings with sea views across St Aubin’s Bay.
The project won the ‘best unbuilt scheme’ in 2011 at the Association of Jersey Architects awards.
Nearby Westwater will comprise six storeys of apartments with a basement car park. Designs for the building have been completed by UK firm Adam Architecture and show a limestone-clad art deco/classical building, featuring open-plan living and west-facing balconies.
