Hastings Debenhams site on the market to let

Dyer & Hobbis commercial property agents is advertising the property which covers around 80,000 sq ft.

The move comes after Moxie Management Two Ltd, which bought the site in January 2020, said last month that it was looking at a number of potential uses for the property, which are still in the planning stage.

Sophie Hubble, co-director of Moxie, said: “We’re now excited to see what’s next for this magnificent building. Our aim is to partner with a tenant or tenants who share our passion for Hastings and will deliver a mix of uses that enrich the town, making it a site that we can all say we are truly proud of.”

In its brochure advertising the site to let, Dyer & Hobbis said: “The property comprises a former department store/entertainment venue arranged over five principal floors with access from Robertson Street (ground floor) and Robertson Terrace (first floor). There are lifts throughout the building as well as a loading bay accessed via Robertson Passage.

“The property is available by way of a new full repairing and insuring lease for a term by negotiation. Quoting rents are available on request. The building is available to let as a whole or in part.”

Owens opened at the former Debenhams building in Robertson Street in October 2022.

Ahead of its opening, it was awarded £400,000 from the Towns Fund investment after being added to the Hastings Town Deal programme in summer 2022 with the aim of creating 35 new jobs.

The Towns Fund was announced by the Government in 2019 and set up to support an initial 101 places across England to develop a Town Deal proposal for regeneration.

However, in September last year Owens put out a statement saying the attraction was closing ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’.

And at the end of last November, Owens said the venue was expected to remain shut for ‘up to a year’.

In September this year, wooden boards were placed all across the rear and front of Owens after the company, which ran the venue, went into administration in August.

Hastings MP, Helena Dollimore, and her predecessor, Sally-Ann Hart have also clashed over the closure of Owens.

In her Westminster View column in the Observer (November 1), Ms Dollimore, who was elected Labour MP for Hastings and Rye in July, said she was ‘angry’ over the closure of Owens and the ‘£400,000 of taxpayer’s money wasted in funding (the) enterprise that we didn’t want or need’.

She said: “Under the Tory government’s Levelling up plans Owens received £400,000 – money which was allocated to rejuvenate Hastings for the benefit of all who live here. We all know what happened. It closed shortly after opening, and the deserted building now dominates the town centre. Funds to improve our towns and public infrastructure were squandered in favour of cronyism and false promises.” In response, former Conservative MP Mrs Hart said: “Let me set the record straight: Hastings received £24.3 million in Town Deal funding to reverse the damage of economic stagnation – much of it due to poor decisions by the former Labour-led council. Between 2000 and 2019, over £590 million in taxpayer money was poured into the town with little to show for it. Instead of climbing up the indices of deprivation, Hastings fell further behind.

“The Town Deal projects, including Owens, were not government mandates. They were community-driven decisions made by the Town Deal Board – local people committed to finding projects that could truly benefit the town.”

Ms Dollimore doubled down on her comments and said: “The Town Deal fund awarded to Hastings was meant to ‘Level Up’ our town after public services were decimated by the Conservatives. Instead, the funding for Owens has come to serve as a constant reminder of how the Conservative Government failed to deliver for Hastings.

“I share people’s anger about this appalling waste of taxpayers’ money and am determined to ask the questions that need to be asked about this scandal. I will be contacting the National Audit Office to encourage them to investigate this use of funds.”