City group hands over keys to Olympic sailing centre

THE Plymouth-based Sutton Harbour Group has officially handed over Dorset's £4million sailing centre for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The multi-purpose facility for the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), at Osprey Quay in Portland, is called RYA Portland House.

It was designed by Plymouth-based Architects Design Group, and developed by the Sutton Harbour Group in partnership with the South West Regional Development Agency.

It will be the hub of performance sailing in the run-up to and during the 2012 games.

It is the first phase of Sutton Harbour's £30million leisure and tourism development called Castle Court near Portland Castle, and the latest development to take shape at Osprey Quay where the RDA is investing £40million to transform the former Royal Navy Air Station into a major employment centre with up to 1,400 jobs by 2016.

Nigel Godefroy, chief executive of the Sutton Harbour Group, said: "We are in detailed discussions with the council and the RDA over the content of phase two, the construction of which we intend to complete before 2012.

"This next phase is likely to include a combination of employment space, food store, hotel, and associated high-quality public realm and we are on target to submit a planning application in the next few months."

James Watt, development manager at the RDA with responsibility for Osprey Quay, said: "Our investment has helped make this site attractive to private investors like Sutton Harbour and there is now more than £80 million of private sector investment either spent or in the pipeline."

The five-storey RYA Portland House includes a reception area, meeting rooms, storage, a small retail unit, three floors of 24 en-suite bedrooms and a top floor clubroom, bar and dining area with views over the water.

The building was erected by Midas Construction.