Hastings - The Developers Vision

Havelock Vision – Vive, Hastings’s student and holiday let development – 49 self-contained studios.

The Developer’s Perspective and vision: For me, this is a very exciting venture, I have been involved myself with Hastings for a number of years, spotting a potential for the growth of a market, and indeed, putting my “money where my mouth is” and investing myself in the area.

My background has been in the main, working in the London market and building a reputation which has led me to winning numerous awards, and I mention that, only because it comes down to an eye for detail, and that is key in all the projects I get involved with, and this opportunity is no different. If you know Hastings, then you will know of its history, but you will also know that it has become an incredibly popular location for tourism and its university. The town itself is charming, rich in History, on the coast with a fabulous old town that makes it impossible for you not to feel relaxed. There are great pubs and restaurants and everything you need, with it now being touted as “The New Brighton” and “Shoreditch on sea” which all point to a buzzing and vibrant town.

As I spent more time down in Hastings, I have become involved and got to known various figures within the business education and political world and there were constant grumblings I heard “The University cannot grow because there isn’t any accommodation for the students in the town” “There isn’t a decent, modern medium sized Hotel in the Town” “We don’t have anywhere to host events and conferences in the town”.

This got me thinking, I had options on a prime location in the centre of the town, it had originally been owned by the University of Brighton and its location is ideal, being just 100 yards from the University, which in turn is next to the Railway station and was in the heart of the centre of town, just a 3- or 4minute stroll to both the Old Town and the sea front.

Having previously already designed and developed Hotels in England Menorca and Ibiza, I know what is needed, but what if we could also combine, some high-end Purpose-Built Student Accommodation into the plans, plus an event centre? This is where the plan formed – create a hotel, a bespoke and unique Hotel to the area, but separate the use, have half as investor bought leasehold properties and have half as a fully running Hotel which is developer owned.

Hotel facilities, such as bars, concierge, and all other luxuries. When discussing this with the local conservative MP (Sally Ann Hart) she was extremely supportive of the hotel element and what we had in mind was exactly what Hastings needed. We had already had a huge interest from the University where I knew the principle and vice principle and who immediately accredited the PBSA aspect and would in fact go as far as to label the self-contained studio flats as their own ‘halls of residence”, and anyone applying for courses, are immediately directed and recommended the studios. So that usually 40 weeks of the year with almost a guaranteed income for the owner. But what about the downtime, well for those 11-12 weeks where the students are not there the Hotel facilities allow us to very quickly, transform those studios to be run under the already existing Hotel model and operate those studios under the holiday let or corporate short term let model. On top of that, with a 3000 sq ft basement areas, we will make this the largest conference and event centre in the area which will further feed the occupancy for the studios.

I already know that in the peak seasons, which is also when the students are not at their accommodation, that you cannot find any accommodation for love or money if it is decent, so we saw the best of both worlds and then realized, after consulting with Residential Estates, that we were getting involved with the 2 fastest growing markets in the investor sector – PBSA and STL. With the Hotel functional there is no need for any involvement from the owner, and we see it as though the owner of the properties gets the best of all worlds with little, if any voids.

My passion is design and architecture and I have created my brand through fine detail, and we now see that we have secured the perfect investor-owned product. Of the 106 units in the building, only 49 will be available to the investor market and these 49 will differ from the others by being fully selfcontained and on their own lease, allowing the owner to sell at any time to another investor and having full and outright ownership. The remainder will be typical Hotel style rooms, so arguably the self-contained studios will be more popular when they are available to let as a holiday let or corporate let. With that in mind, we did not have any hesitation in securing the plot and creating a unique option that is going to be the benchmark for the town and give it something it needs.

In my opinion and with the sales figures to back it. Hastings is very much a place on the up and I have every faith that it will become all that and more.

Kind Regards, Sean • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Winner of Best Interior Design Specialist at the UK Lifestyle Awards 2020 Regional Winner of Interior Design Apartment at the UK Property Awards 2019 Winner of Bar/Club/Lounge-Europe at the International Property Awards 2018 Winner of the Best Hotel Interior Europe at the European Property Awards 2018 Winner of the Best Office Interior at the International Property Awards 2017 Winner of the Best Hotel Interior Europe at the International Property Awards 2017 Winner of the Best Hotel Interior Spain at the European Property Awards 2017 Winner at the International Design & Architecture Awards 2016 Winner at the International Hotel & Property Awards 2016 Winner at the International Design & Architecture Awards 2015 Winner at the International Property Awards 2014 Winner of 2 International Design & Architecture Awards 2014 Winner of 3 International Design & Architecture Awards 2013 Winner at the International Design & Architecture Awards 2012 Winner at the International Design & Architecture Awards 2011 Winner at the IDFX Awards 2011