Former TJ Hughes site sold
By Rebecca Maer, Eastbourne Reporter
The former TJ Hughes department store building in Eastbourne has been sold on without any planned development work starting.
The site has nine months left on planning permission for conversion to 65 apartments.
Details of the deal are confidential but it is understood to have been sold for about £850,000 by the charitable trust which paid £4.2 million for the freehold in 2003.
Full planning consent was granted in March 2024 on the basis that work was started within three years.
The landmark building in the town centre has been vacant since TJ Hughes department store closed in 2019.
When asked if it knew of any plans to start work on the conversion, an Eastbourne Borough Council spokesman said the council “have not been made aware of any planned start date by any party”.
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According to a Land Registry document obtained by the Eastbourne Reporter, the freehold of the site has been owned since 2003 by trustees of the Rachel Charitable Trust. This is the philanthropic arm of the Noé Group, an investment and asset management group.
Capreon, the real estate arm of the Noé Group, secured full planning permission for the site in March 2024 for 65 apartments plus shops.
Property consultancy Allsop’s website shows the site as sold in February this year. The guide price is given as £11.50 sq ft on 73,894 sq ft.
Allsop told the Eastbourne Reporter that contracts had been exchanged for a sale but details were confidential until completion.
The Rachel Charitable Trust, which was established almost 50 years ago, has donated more than £100 million to various good causes, focusing on young people, welfare and education, according to the Noé Group website. The Trust has been approached for a comment on the sale.
The building dates from the 1920s when the local drapery business of Dale and Kerley expanded to become a department store, according to the 20th Century Society.
One striking feature is the domed top-floor former cafe area with skylights, which was used during the 1920s and 1930s for daily tea dances.
Developers initially wanted to demolish the building as part of the proposals.
More than 3,700 people signed a petition started by the Eastbourne Society four years ago to save the facade of the building which resulted in a revised scheme being submitted in 2022.
The developers worked with the council and local groups to rework designs to retain the building's original facade.
Full planning permission was eventually granted in 2024 in a seven-page document containing 22 conditions.
Until earlier this year, the ground floor was used temporarily as a charity shop by Living Life Eastbourne, which supports families facing hardship. The windows are now covered with steel shutters.
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