Investors are being invited to eye up opportunities to acquire buy-to-let properties in the first phase of ex-BBC chief Greg Dyke’s £35m transformation of Plymouth’s Fort Bovisand.
Work began in 2021 to turn the Victorian fort into homes and businesses in what is being dubbed “Devon’s most ambitious collection of concierge waterside homes”.
Now the company behind the Bovisand Harbour scheme is staging an investors webinar for Palmerston Court, the first phase of the redevelopment.
It has brought together industry experts to answer questions about how inventors can make money from buying and then renting out the three-bedroomed homes.
Palmerston Court is a row of six terraced homes, each with two storeys above a ground-floor garage and utility area, and with a balcony giving views over Bovisand Bay. The first of four phases of development, the homes are scheduled for completion in Summer 2022.
The Investors Webinar is at 6pm on Wednesday, February 9, and prospective investors are asked to register at: BovisandHarbour.com
A spokesperson for Bovisand Harbour said: “Situated in the popular holiday destination of South Hams, each one of these new and exclusive deluxe, three-bedroom homes benefits from spectacular panoramic views overlooking the breath-taking Bovisand Bay, making them the ultimate holiday let investment.”
The spokesperson said the “carefully curated” Investors Webinar will be co-hosted by industry expert Kevin Ellis and James Clarke, director of Plymouth estate agency Lang Town & Country, and features a “world-exclusive walkthrough tour of Number 1 Palmerston Court, with the opportunity to have your property related questions answered”.
Attendees will also hear from Simon Pyne, luxury property letting expert and owner of Plymouth property business Pureserviced.
“He’ll give his projections on weekly letting tariff ranges throughout the seasons, and predict the annual income return investors in this exciting project can expect to achieve,” the spokesperson said.
The online event will close with expertise from Charlie Green, mortgage and protection advisor at Sussex-based financial experts Wagner Gibbs & Associates.
“Charlie will be answering any finance related questions about the ownership of these unique and superior homes,” said the spokesperson.
The first properties at Bovisand Harbour are expected to be completed in 2022. Overall, more than 80 houses and apartments, with sea views, will be built, alongside a visitors’ centre and events space, a bistro café with rooftop terrace offering views across Plymouth Sound, and a collaborative working space.
The spokesperson said: “Bovisand Harbour offers an unrivalled collection of luxury concierge homes for sale on South Devon’s glorious coastline.
“Created within historic fortifications on a spectacular peninsula in the South Hams, this development brings together world-leading partners and designers to offer landmark architectural excellence and unprecedented amenities. Bovisand Harbour
presents a unique opportunity for a truly iconic and prestigious living space.”
Built in the 1860s as a defence against the threat posed by Napoleonic France, Fort Bovisand is one of the best surviving Palmerston forts. In recent years it became a commercial diver training centre and was at the centre of development plans for much of the 2000s. Planning consent was obtained for the development from South Hams District Council in 2017.
Mr Dyke, former BBC director general and Football Association chairman, now owns the lease and has said his project aims to restore the historically important fort, improve sea defences, and reinstate the harbour.
Mr Dyke has had a varied career in the public and private sectors. A former chief executive of London Weekend Television and director general of the BBC, he was later chairman of Ambassador Theatre Group, Europe’s biggest theatre company, and the British Film Institute. He also has been on the board of Manchester United, chairman of Brentford and for three years chairman of the Football Association.
His involvement in business in the South West began when he bought Dartmouth Golf and Country Club two decades ago – a property he still owns - and since then has been involved in a number of commercial developments in Devon. He is also the principal shareholder in the Vine Hotel Group which owns and runs a series of hotels across England. Mr Dyke bought a lease on Fort Bovisand when he saw it from the sea and was told it was for sale. His aim has been to build a “high-quality and unique development” site which would enable him to “save” the fort for posterity.
