Folca 1 Flats: New £100 Arcvelop Company Raises Questions Over Folkestone Landmark Sale

Folkestone’s former Debenhams has moved one step closer to becoming flats. But the planning decision is only half the story. The sharper question now is who, exactly, is buying this publicly owned building — and what safeguards has the council put around the deal?

Folca 1 has had more lives than a council regeneration press release. It began as the red-brick Edwardian part of Folkestone’s old Debenhams, became part of the council’s grand Folca vision, was lined up for a town-centre medical hub, then drifted into the familiar civic territory marked “too expensive, too difficult, please see revised plan”. Now, after the planning committee’s 19 May decision, part of the former department store can be converted into 17 flats above retained commercial space.

The application was not a normal full planning application. It was a Class MA prior approval case — a permitted-development route allowing certain commercial buildings to become homes if the legal conditions are met. That matters because councillors were not really deciding whether 17 flats were the best public future for a council-owned landmark. They were considering narrower issues such as transport, contamination, flood risk, noise, daylight and whether the proposal satisfied the national rules.

The application form is clear. It names the site as 48–66 Folca, Sandgate Road, Folkestone, CT20 1DW. It describes the proposal as a change of use of part of the former Folca department store from commercial use to residential use to create 17 dwellings. The applicant is given as Mr Marc Turnier, company name Arcvelop X. The agent is Alastair Cross of Arcvelop Architecture. Marc Turnier signed the declaration on 20 March 2026.

Then comes the wrinkle. On 7 May 2026 — just days before the committee decision — a new company appeared: Arcvelop Folca Ltd. If that company is merely a reserved vehicle, fine. If it is the intended purchaser of Folca 1, that is a public-interest fact, because it is a newly incorporated company with no filed accounts and no public trading history. In property development, special-purpose vehicles are normal. But “normal” is not the same as “nothing to ask about”.

This is where the brand and the legal entity must not be blurred. Residents hear “Arcvelop”. The planning form says “Arcvelop X”. The agent is Arcvelop Architecture. A new company is called Arcvelop Folca Ltd. The wider group includes Arcvelop Ltd, Arcvelop Investor Group companies and project vehicles. That may all be commercially ordinary, but it is not the same as one simple buyer with one transparent balance sheet.

Marc Alexander Turnier (pictured) is not a mystery name. He is publicly presented as an architect-turned-developer, with Arcvelop’s website describing him as founder and managing director. Public professional profiles link him to architectural education and previous experience with major practices including Foster + Partners and Allies and Morrison. Arcvelop says its model is to restore and repurpose characterful or neglected buildings, especially mixed-use and residential schemes.

There is also evidence of a real development footprint. Arcvelop and Arcvelop Investor Group have been linked publicly to Ramsgate and Norwich projects, including former industrial, office and commercial buildings converted into flats and mixed-use schemes. Trade coverage has described projects including Ramsgate conversions, Norwich apartments and Arcvelop’s interest in taking on larger, more complex developments. This is not a case of a developer with no visible track record.

But that isn’t the same as saying the public should relax. The important question is not whether Marc Turnier has experience. It is whether the exact company buying Folca 1 has the money, backing and obligations needed to deliver what Folkestone is being led to expect. Public assets are sold to legal entities, not to glossy websites. If the buyer is a new SPV, the council should be able to explain the funding proof, deposit, completion conditions, guarantees, lender position and anti-flip safeguards.

The financial context makes that more important. Arcvelop Ltd’s own 2025 micro-entity accounts show fixed assets of £836, current assets of £90,870, creditors due within one year of £56,682, creditors due after more than one year of £32,516, and net assets of £2,508. It also recorded zero employees. That does not prove the wider Arcvelop operation lacks finance. It simply means Arcvelop Ltd’s own public accounts do not show a large balance sheet behind a major town-centre acquisition.

Arcvelop Ltd also registered two Hampshire Trust Bank charges in April 2026, including one over Chapel Place flats in Ramsgate and a wider debenture over the company’s undertaking and assets. Again, lender finance is not a scandal. It is how much of property development works. But if Folca 1 is also to be acquired through debt-backed structures, the council should understand and, where appropriate, disclose the protections around completion and delivery.

The council’s own Folca history explains why residents are entitled to be wary. Folca 1 was once part of a bigger medical-centre vision. The NHS plan for that part of the building fell away after rising costs, financing pressures and poor building condition undermined the business case. Council papers previously described Folca 1 as being in extremely poor condition and requiring millions merely to reach shell-and-core condition. Selling the building may be rational. Selling it without crystal-clear public safeguards would not be.

There is a good version of this story. An experienced architect-developer buys a tired landmark, keeps commercial life at street level, creates homes above, repairs a decaying building and helps pull a dead corner of the town centre back into use. Folkestone does need that. Empty buildings do not regenerate themselves.

But there is also the version Folkestone has seen too often: public money buys the problem, the public promise changes, the building is sold, the private value is unlocked, and residents are left trying to work out the deal from company filings and committee scraps. That is why the council should now answer the simple questions. Who is buying Folca 1? Is it Arcvelop Folca Ltd? What is the sale price? What proof of funds has been received? What guarantees exist? Can the buyer sell on? Is there overage if value rises? What happens if the project stalls?

The planning box has been ticked. The public-interest box has not. Folca 1 may yet become a useful, lively piece of town-centre repair. But after years of changing promises, Folkestone deserves more than brand names and warm words. It deserves to know who is taking ownership of a public building — and what the council has done to make sure the town doesn’t get left holding the receipt.

The Shepway Vox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime