It's said the mark of a thriving city is the number of cranes across its skyline - but in what was meant to be Cardiff's flagship new development, they haven't been seen for years. The face of the city is changing, with plans approved for a 113m-high skyscraper right in the city centre and a planned transformation of Cardiff Bay in the works.
Down the road, though, a huge plot of land sits mostly empty. Cardiff Pointe is at the tip of the International Sports Village and when approved in 2013 it was meant to be a transformative development of townhouses, detached houses and flats - including two tower blocks - totalling some 561 units to be put on the market.
It was described by designers Scott Brownrigg as "a catalyst for the regeneration of this highly prominent area... a world class waterfront." But go there today and huge chunks of the Cardiff Pointe site look more like a wasteland.
READ MORE: Planners back 35-storey tower block for Cardiff taller than any building currently in Wales
The project was also linked to plans for 237 other homes on nearby sites - and the same developers were tasked with building, and contributing large sums of money towards, the Ice Arena Wales and an indoor ski slope. But only a fraction of the homes were built and the ski slope is nowhere to seen.
A billboard on the site, its plastic now peeling off, reads "Welcome to Cardiff Pointe," with a picture of the planned development. Behind it is a fenced-off area taken over by plants and weeds.
What's more, a £3,025,132.60 sum was originally pledged by a subsidiary of developers Greenbank Partnerships Limited to contribute to local infrastructure - part of a Section 106 agreement, which are very common in developments of this size. But a Freedom of Information request from April revealed £0 of this has been paid to date - and further investigation shows the goalposts were moved to delay the obligation for this to be paid.
Why did this development fail, and why was the Section 106 money not paid? It's worth looking more closely at what was planned. The site has a long history and at one point was meant to be home to two futuristic 33-storey "Bay Pointe" skyscrapers, in a plan scrapped back in 2008.
At one stage, Cardiff Pointe was meant to include 1,127 units but by the time plans were approved in 2013 they consisted of 392 apartments (74 one-bed, 307 two-bed and 11 three-bed) and 169 houses (81 three-bed, 70 four-bed and 18 five-bed).
It was also linked to three other nearby developments - one for 79 dwellings on a neighbouring site to be put on the market, and others for a mix of affordable and market dwellings (95 on Watkiss Way, and 63 on the nearby Morrisons site).
Greenbank then completed just 99 of the market units at Cardiff Pointe and 106 units of affordable housing on the nearby sites, as well as the Ice Arena (at a significant cost). None of the other units went ahead, the neighbouring site is now a car park, the tower blocks never materialised and the project has hit a total standstill.
Why did this happen? A council cabinet report from 2021 says development had "stagnated for a number of years," and progress was "slow due to a disagreement between the Council and [Greenbank] relating to the fulfilment of conditions for the next phase of development (i.e. commitment to deliver the Ski Slope or a reasonable alternative)."
But the matter of the nearly £3m that never changed hands remains. When planning permission was granted for Cardiff Pointe, Figurehead Homes Limited (a subsidiary of Greenbank previously known as Helium Miracle 101 Limited) agreed to pay the council a total of £3,025,132.60 for things like education, highways and safety.
Some of this was originally due as soon as the first house or flat was built (for instance, £106,050 for upgrading the Cardiff Bay Trail or the nearby roundabout, £42,420 for a bus shelter, and £63,630 for CCTV cameras).
But the council agreed to change this when Greenbank put a "significant cost" towards the Ice Arena. It was considered reasonable to sign a Deed of Variation, meaning Greenbank would only need to make these payments when the 200th unit was completed - but that never happened.
Four annual payments of £99,200 for open spaces and £312,227 towards education would also have been due, starting the 100th unit was completed. These triggers were never met as only 99 units on the main site were built.
So, with around one-fifth of the houses and flats planned for Cardiff Pointe built and not a penny of Section 106 payments received, the council bought the land bank from Greenbank. A council spokesperson confirmed the buyout went ahead in December 2022, but couldn't reveal the price as this was commercially sensitive.
Some would argue that a lot of the Section 106 money wouldn't have been necessary anyway - a developer only needs to contribute to an area's infrastructure if they're actually building houses in the area. And the council says Greenbank's contributions to the Ice Arena outweigh the lack of Section 106 money received.
A Greenbank spokesperson said: "Greenbank was disappointed not to have had the opportunity to complete its projects at Cardiff Sports Village. However, the recent transfer of the land to complete the development to the Council came at a time where the Council had a new Masterplan to deliver and it allowed Greenbank to pursue other projects which were more viable in the short term.
"The Development Agreement between Greenbank and the Council has produced one of the UK’s leading and award-winning Ice Arenas (which the city had been trying to procure for many years previously) and the first two phases of Cardiff Pointe set the benchmark for future successful phases. Greenbank wishes the Council and its future partners every success."
Greenbank also explained: "It is common for developers to agree a trigger for s106 payments when some profits have been received from delivery of some units rather than at the beginning of development and all variations reflected what was considered reasonable in the market for such contributions."
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: "While it’s disappointing that Greenbank were unable to complete the planned Cardiff Pointe development, it is important to note that they did deliver over and above the affordable housing requirement based on the number of units they finished on site. More affordable homes – 106 in total - were delivered against only 99 homes for the open market, and a significant commuted contribution was also made by Greenbank towards the Ice Arena.
"This far outweighs any loss of Section 106 money that would have been due, even if the whole development had been completed. Cardiff Council now retains all the undeveloped land which Greenbank once held and should a developer come forward, then any future planning application will see the council claim for new Section 106 funds and more affordable housing for the area."
Asked whether there were any plans for the land, the council confirmed it was in discussions with a developer over the site's future with more information to be made public soon. The council previously revealed plans for redeveloping the International Sports Village in early 2023, committing to turning it into a "vibrant waterfront residential district and a consolidated sports and leisure destination."
The plans will involve appointing a "master developer" for the land, with individual developers for smaller parts of it, and an operator for the Ice Arena which will see a new climbing facility set to replace the second ice pad. You can read more about this here, although plans for housing aren't yet set out.
The International Sports Village is also the site of the planned replacement site for Maindy Velodrome, which is subject to a controversial land swap that would see it become part of the expansion of Cathays High School. The plans took a big step forward earlier this year.
Do you live in one of the Cardiff Pointe houses or flats, and want to talk about what it's like living there? Please email benjamin.summer@walesonline.co.uk.
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