Asset
Landmark building
Existing structure
Work
Change of use
Repositioning
Ground floor
Trade-led
Planned as an operator
Outcome
Repositioned
Hospitality and retail
01 — Overview
An underused landmark building where the question was not what could be drawn, but what could realistically be let, opened and traded once the scaffolding came down.
Repositioned for hospitality and retail use, with the ground floor planned around how it would actually trade.
02 — The position
A prominent building carrying more space than its previous use required, in a location where a wrong ground-floor decision is visible to the whole town.
The owner's question was straightforward: what use will actually hold, and at what cost to get there.
03 — What we did
Tested uses against trading reality before committing to a planning route, then designed the ground floor around servicing, covers and staffing rather than around a floor plan that looked balanced on paper.
Change of use was pursued on the basis of a proposition the town would use, which is also what makes an income line durable.
04 — The outcome
Repositioned for hospitality and retail use, with the commercial case built from operating assumptions rather than from a headline rent.
Our role
- Appraisal
- Change of use
- Repositioning
- Design
- Letting strategy
Have something like Southsea?
We will talk you through the numbers behind this project, the decisions we made, and what we would do differently on yours.