The island's busy ferry terminal and carpark at Douglas, Isle of Man - Credit: Alamy

British property developer Altostratus Limited has announced a proposal that could soon see the Isle of Man playing host to a £30 million ($36.6 million) development complete with a small casino.

The local company has asked for permission to transform the current site of a temporary Douglas car park near to the island’s busy ferry terminal into a six-story complex featuring dozens of offices, 25 apartments and a two-floor land-based casino.

Significant Scheme

Headquartered in the self-governing British territory, Altostratus Limited revealed that this project would represent one of the biggest Douglas developments for several decades and could also see the one-acre site play host to a 25-space car park, a bingo hall, a sports bar and a rooftop garden.

John Bell serves as the Project Manager for ADG Architects and he disclosed that the idea to bring civic spaces to the proposed development ‘emerged strongly’ during a recent public consultation. He asserted that such amenities, which could even run to an outdoor ice rink, would moreover help to regenerate a portion of the island’s largest community by serving as a ‘central hub’ for future markets and festivals such as the annual Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle races.

“Subject to obtaining the necessary approvals to move its casino license, Palace Hotel and Casino Limited would be an anchor tenant for the development,” Bell said.

Convenient Connection

Bell asserted that the proposed development would additionally ‘enhance the overall appeal and sustainability’ of Douglas with its office space helping ‘to support local businesses and the growth in the local business economy’. He went on to proclaim that such a complex may furthermore serve to ‘link the growing leisure offering on the North Quay with the well-established shopping and business districts in lower Douglas’.

“Altostratus Limited is working closely with the Manx Development Corporation (MDC) to ensure that the scheme fits well with MDC’s wider aspirations for the lower Douglas area,” Bell said. “Further discussions will take place with MDC over the coming weeks ahead of the formal planning application being lodged later this year.”

Prominent Proprietor

Douglas is home to approximately 27,000 people while the site for the proposed scheme had been owned by the Manx government as part of its controversial £3.2 million ($3.9 million) bailout of local hotelier Sefton Group in 2013. However, Middlemarch Limited, which is a subsidiary of Auldyn Properties Limited, bought the plot in May of 2019 for almost £4 million ($4.9 million).