Sea Change Looks to Borough Council to Remedy Azur Disrepair
Sea Change Sussex, the publicly funded regeneration company which has held the head lease of the Azur Marina Pavilion since 2007, has appointed national leisure sector property agents Fleurets alongside local agents Dyer & Hobbis to find a new operator. The Pavilion premises were repossessed from previous underlessees Azur Events Limited at the end of January after long-contested winding-up proceedings in the High Court.
A Sea Change spokesperson said last week that the company will be “inviting proposals to consider rather than setting fixed lease terms at the outset”. They would entertain bids “from all interested parties, including local groups that have used the facility in the past”.
It was known that the outgoing underlessees would be leaving the premises in a state of serious disrepair as well as poor decoration. However, it has emerged that Hastings Borough Council (HBC) not only owns the freehold reversion of the building, but has retained responsibility at all times for what are called in the head lease its “common parts”. These include the plant room from which energy (either from mains electricity or diesel generators) is supplied to the rest of the building.
A Sea Change manager, Chris Broome, has written to local ward councillor Tony Collins informing him that their initial surveys have revealed “significant water ingress” within this area. There is also rot to floors within fire escape routes for which the council is responsible. Remediation costs “look as though they might be quite significant for HBC”, Mr Broome has written, adding: “This is unlikely to be a quick and easy repair for the council.” The works within the hospitality area “appear somewhat limited by comparison”, as most incoming operators “take units as shells and then fit out to their own specifications”.
Sea Change is asking council officers to address these matters urgently. It has also asked that liabilities to the council such as business rates be suspended in the meantime. Mr Broome told Cllr Collins that “a number of serious enquiries” have been received “from a wide variety of operators from within the leisure sector”, but that Sea Change’s ability to proceed to a re-letting is being held up by the issues with the building as a whole.
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