By Kayla Harriss

A developer has confirmed he will be sticking to agreed plans to revamp a former seafront greasy spoon into flats and a new café.

Demolition work has now started at the derelict site along the Western Undercliff in Ramsgate - with its new owner revealing his intentions.

It had sat abandoned for several years when it was sold for £100,000 by Thanet District Council (TDC) in 2018.

Earlier this year it was listed for £1.2 million before being slashed down to a guide price of £775,000 but failed to sell at auction.

But now, it has been snapped up by Lee Phelps, who says despite some minor amendments to the plans, he is continuing to go ahead with the approved proposals.

A new six-storey building, complete with 13 flats, public toilets and a ground floor café was put forward by previous owners Custom Build Developments in 2021 after buying the plot for £600,000.

Those plans were approved by TDC last year.

However, as the site sat undeveloped and failed to be sold for so long, doubts were cast about its future and whether the project would ever proceed.

But Mr Phelps, 47, who has more than 20 years of experience in the construction sector has now bought it for £850,000.

He confirmed the planning application will remain mostly unchanged: “We're putting in some non-material amendments, but nothing that would affect the look of it in the end.

“There will be 12 apartments, one penthouse and a cafe underneath with the public toilets.”

Despite the setbacks seen by previous developers, Mr Phelps is confident the vision for the site will be successful.

He said: “We're not going to sell it on. We're not going to let somebody else take it. We are going to have a go at it ourselves, which will be a learning curve.”

The prior beach café business closed 10 years ago after a water pipe burst.

It then fell into a state of disrepair and later became a target for vandalism until demolition work started this month.

In a bid to attempt to save and restore what was the last remaining amenity on the seafront, residents set up a campaign before TDC made the decision to sell it on.

TDC confirmed to KentOnline its building control team “was made aware of plans to demolish the existing structure” and is following the conditions set out alongside the planning permission.

Mr Phelps revealed his business partner’s wife will run the new café independently.

He added: “There is definitely a demand down there for a nice coffee shop that does toasted sandwiches, for example, plus doors that open at the front so people can sit outside with an ice cream in the summer.

“I think in the winter, it will do well with the dog walkers and open water swimmers. They get in the water and then when they get out they put their dry coats on and get in their cars with a flask of coffee.

“If there was a coffee shop with croissants and all on offer, they would use it.”

Looking towards his retirement years, Mr Phelps says he is keen to get involved with the café himself once it is up and running, adding: “We're going to do it all. We're going to give it a go.

“It will be my first adventure into hospitality, but I've got plenty of support from other teams on that.”

He added he aims to complete construction within 12 months and the apartments would be available to rent and for sale.