Work on converting the old JCG building at La Pouquelaye began in 2016. A total of 187 residential units, spread across six blocks, are being created by ROK Construction, comprising one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments.
Jersey Development Company, which is delivering the project, has confirmed that the first ten open-market apartments inside a purpose-built three-storey building will be ready for buyers to move into before May, along with 40 social rented flats for the over-55s.
JDC managing director Lee Henry said: ‘Phase one of the project is for ten open-market apartments and 40 social rented units to be completed by the end of April.’
He added that work on renovating the listed building’s classrooms into apartments would be finished by August, while 28 of the 40 affordable homes which are being constructed should be ready by October. Under the shared-equity initiative, eligible first-time buyers applied for these flats through the States’ Affordable Housing Gateway.
Those who qualified were able to buy a one-bedroom apartment at 80 per cent of its market value, with the flats priced from £155,000 to £199,000.
Mr Henry said although the completion of phase one had been delayed by two weeks due to the harsh winter weather, the entire College Gardens project should be finished by spring next year.
‘The weather has impaired the work,’ Mr Henry said. ‘But after phase one is completed at the end of April, the east wing of the listed building should be ready by July and the western section should be ready by August. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by April-May 2019.’
Every one of the apartments at the development, called College Gardens, has already been sold and Mr Henry said the majority of the properties had been secured by owner-occupiers. ‘The sales went even better than expected,’ he added. ‘There’s such an affection for this site and its setting.
‘Approaching 70 per cent of the units are going to be owner-occupied and there are quite a few first-time buyers, as well as people looking to downsize.’
All the properties sold on the open market come with parking spaces, and parking bays have been constructed for 28 of the 40 social rented flats for the over-55s. A number of properties also have balconies.
Inside the listed school building – which was built in 1888 and closed in 1999 – two mahogany staircases have been preserved and a lift has been installed.
The timberwork inside the dome, where school leavers once went to sign their name on the last day of class, has been restored. The pillars from the old school’s 1930s Greek theatre have been left intact beside the landscaped gardens, which will be restored to their former glory.
College Gardens is one of several projects being undertaken in Jersey which will deliver more than 1,000 new homes in the next few years, comprising starter homes, affordable housing and
social housing.
