Ocean Village is a large, mixed-use marina, residential, business and leisure development on the mouth of the River Itchen

River Itchen, Hampshire

The River Itchen is a river in Hampshire, England. It flows from mid-Hampshire to join with Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge in the city of Southampton. The river has a total length of , and is noted as one of England's - if not one of the World's - premier chalk streams for fly fishing,...

 in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, on the south coast of England. Ocean Village is currently undergoing a major £70m re-development project and is set to become one of the main leisure destinations in Southampton. Current recreational facilities include two cinemas, cafes, wine bars and restaurants including Banana Wharf and Pitcher & Piano. The recently opened multi-storey car park

Multi-storey car park

A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...

 has space for 776 vehicles.

The marina is managed and owned by Marina Developments Limited (MDL), a division of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-based Yattendon Investment Trust

Yattendon Investment Trust

Yattendon Group plc is a private British company owned by the Iliffe family. It has interests in the UK and Canada, and interests in newspaper publishing, television, electronic media, marinas and property....

. The area, formerly used for commercial ships, now offers 375 berths and the basin is deep enough to provide mooring facilities for tall ships and large yachts. The Global Challenge

Global Challenge

The Global Challenge was a round the world yacht race run by Challenge Business, the company started by Sir Chay Blyth in 1989...

 yacht races started from here in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Ocean Village is also the base for the Royal Southampton Yacht Club

Royal Southampton Yacht Club

Royal Southampton Yacht Club is located in Southampton, England. It received its Royal Charter in 1875 making it one of the oldest Yacht clubs in the UK.- Principal Officers :* Admiral of the RSYC - HRH Prince Michael of Kent* Commodore - Colin Lewis...

.

A number of large companies have offices or regional headquarters in the complex, including HSBC

HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...

, Barclays plc

Barclays plc

Barclays PLC is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. As of 2010 it was the world's 10th-largest banking and financial services group and 21st-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...

 and PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....

. The marina is home to the historical building, Enterprise House, which was originally a dock warehouse and has now been converted into serviced offices.

Calshot Spit Lightship

Between 1988 and 2010, the entrance to Ocean Village marina was the location for the former Calshot Spit

Calshot Spit

Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and shingle bank, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England....

Lightship (LV 78), which formed a static attraction at the marina. The lightship was removed on November 3, 2010 and taken to be restored at Trafalgar Dry Dock. The lightship will become a 'gateway attraction' at a new heritage museum called Aeronautica.

This Trinity House navigation aid guided ships entering Southampton Water from the western end of the Solent, coming around the low lying sand and shingle Calshot Spit. It was built in 1914 by J I Thornycroft shipyard in Southampton, and decommissioned in 1978.