The city council is seeking a leaseholder to potentially run the soon-to-be-refurbished South Quay Shed building in Whitstable Harbour.

The building is being developed by Canterbury City Council as a mixed use space for retail, restaurant, café, museum, exhibition and education activities. The authority hopes to transform the site, which currently houses a shed that has until recently been used for storage, into a two-storey building comprising repurposed shipping containers and a large, internal courtyard. It will be a year-round facility providing views of the working harbour.

Now, experienced individuals and organisations are invited to register their interest in becoming the council's leaseholder and operating the site.

While expressions of interest are being sought, it is not a formal tender process, and no decision has yet been taken regarding whether the South Quay Shed will be leased or whether it will be run directly by Whitstable Harbour Board (WHB).

All information from the 'expressions of interest' stage will be used by the Harbour Board to inform their decision on the building's management, which will be made early next year.

WHB chairman Cllr Robert Jones said: "We’re at the market testing stage of this exciting project for Whitstable, so the expressions of interest will be very useful in helping us understand the ideas that are out there and how we can make sure we create the very best development for the harbour and the wider town."

For more information and an expression of interest form, visit the Kent Business Portal.

The deadline for submissions is noon on January 4.

The council is currently working with local group Cinema for Whitstable, to investigate whether part of the development site could be used as a cinema.

If this proposal proves viable, then space will be allocated for this use and a suitable operator will be found. If it is not viable, the space will be used for another purpose as part of the overall South Quay Shed redevelopment project.