A Hull businessman is putting the finishing touches to his first residential development in the city – and beginning work on his second – after completing his latest property purchase this week.
Jason Kay has converted the upper floors of the former Brown’s Books property in George Street into a mix of 13 one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well refurbishing two ground floor commercial units, with the properties set to become available to rent later this month.
As the final touches are made to that development, work is beginning on another in Anlaby Road, where Hadley Place, a building which previously housed a residential care home, is to be transformed into a 24-bedroom multiple occupancy facility.
All bedrooms there will be doubles with ensuite facilities, whilst the entire ground floor will be converted into communal areas including a gym, co-working area, cinema room and reading room.
That development is expected to be completed and ready for tenants by summer of next year.
Strong market for residential development in Hull
Mr Kay, who has been investing in property development for three years, is funding the projects through Sourced Capital, a highly successful online peer-to-peer (P2P) property crowdfunding platform which offers investors the opportunity to invest in property-backed loans.
Sourced Capital funding is only available to Sourced franchisees and they receive tailored support and advice from a network of investors and developers in taking their projects from start to finish profitably.
Mr Kay says he is excited to be developing in Hull, and believes there is a strong market for investors in residential conversions, such as in George Street, with ‘The Binding House’ project.
“There’s a really big push in Hull at present, supported by the local authority, to significantly increase the amount of living space in the city centre,” he said.
“Hull city centre has lots of commercial buildings where the first and second floors are largely unused and are ideal for converting into modern living spaces, and that was the business plan I had when I set out. There is a real opportunity in this area.
“That was the case with the property in George Street, which used to house the retail store Brown’s Books for many years. We have been able to upgrade the commercial space and make two retail spaces available to let, whilst on the upper floors we have created some really high-spec apartments.
“Given the cost of living crisis there is expected to be a move towards smaller properties and living spaces, and as we’ve seen in recent times, new apartments in Hull have been in high demand.
“We’ve made sure the building is highly insulated, and uses a cost-effective, eco-friendly heating solution, from Hull company iHelios, to bring down the energy costs.
“Importantly, whilst they are all high-spec and include 1GB high speed Internet to all apartments, digital entry systems and smart technology, we’ve also made sure we’ve not priced them at the very top end of the market, to make them affordable.”
Property sales handled by Garness Jones
Both property sales were handled by Hull-based commercial property specialists Garness Jones, part of the Garness Group, and director Paul White says it is great to see continued investment into city centre living.
“We’re seeing continued interest from local and national investors in commercial properties in Hull which offer the opportunity for conversion into residential developments,” he said.
“We’ve been delighted to support Jason in finding the ideal properties for conversion. It is always good to see local people doing good things in Hull.
“Over the past few years we have seen a constant flow of property conversions in Hull city centre, and we have directly been involved in the sale of many of these properties.
“These sort of developments can help breathe new life into the city, creating the vibrant environment we all want to see, which in turn helps city centre businesses to thrive.”
The new properties are to be marketed for rent and managed by Gro Residential Management, the specialist residential lettings management business which is also part of the Garness Group of companies.