Investors are showing interest in a £10million block of apartments being built in Plymouth city centre – months before the block is ready.
Work only started on the seven-storey Peirson House development, in Notte Street, in 2018 but it is progressing so quickly it is expected to be ready by early 2020.
The topping out ceremony took place in May 2019 and Rod Short, director of Plymouth-headquartered Moor Manage, said: “We are on programme, planned to complete in early 2020. We are flying through this.”
Moor Manage is masterminding the construction for developer Devcor, on plans drawn by the city’s Burke Rickhards architecture practice.
James Burke, of Burke Rickhards, said: “It’s on target for early 2020, this is exciting and adds a bit a class to the road.”
The sales team is now in situ at a completed first floor show flat and said there is mounting interest in Peirson House’s 76 apartments.
And that is as the flats are being marketed before completion, targeting a range of potential buyers including young professionals and couples, down-sizers, and investors looking to secure buy-to-let investment or even rent rooms out as serviced accommodation.
it is expected that while some of the one- and two-bed flats are being eyed by people who want to move into Peirson House, there potential interest from investors who will rent rooms out as short-term stays for people visiting the city.
Mayflower 400, a year long celebration of four centuries since the Mayflower left Plymouth to take settlers to the USA, is predicted to be a major attraction for American visitors throughout 2020.
And though hotel developers have been circling the city, many of the proposed or planned developments are unlikely to be complete before the celebrations get into swing.
With organisations such as Destination Plymouth and the Institute of Hospitality saying Plymouth, with just 2,000 beds, is short of the amount of hotel accommodation it needs, Peirson House developers feel there is an opportunity.
“We are expecting a lot of interest from investors for Mayflower 400,” said Rosalind Chad, who runs the Peirson House sales office.
“That’s buy-to-rent. We think people will use it as serviced accommodation. It depends on how people choose to invest, but because of its location, the position close to the Hoe, there is a lot of interest in serviced accommodation. There will be a lot of interest and it will make sense.”
She added: “There are people looking to build hotels but they have limited time before Mayflower 400, so there will be people looking to invest that see the potential. Mayflower 400 will bring so many people to Plymouth from the USA.”
But she stressed there are probably going to be stipulations covering the use of rooms, such as only allowing guests to stay for a minimum of three nights.
She said he idea is not for the entire block to become serviced apartments, but to have a “good mix” of residents, including owner-occupiers and long-term rental tenants.
Ms Chad said there is already interest from buyers and added: “We anticipate interest from young professionals, young couples, people who are downsizing, if they want a nice quality of life, they have shopping and leisure nearby.”
The completed building will contain 39 two-bedroom apartments and 37 one-bedroom flats, each with a balcony, with outdoor communal space, a water feature, undercover car parking and a landscaped entrance onto Notte Street.
And the upper-floor flats facing onto Notte Street will have awesome views over the city centre. Rooms vary in size from 51sq m to 80sq m.
Ms Chad said: “It is urban living in a great space in the heart of the city.”
Tim Burke, director of Devocor Properties, the developer, said: “It’s nice to have residential as opposed to student flats. These are for young executives.”
Peirson House is being constructred on a site once occupied by a three-storey former nursing home which was demolished in 2018. It was also called Peirson House.
Prior to that the land was a Secon World War bombsite, and when building teams moved in after demolition of the care home they found three huge craters beneath where the old building stood, but no unexploded bombs.
