Seeing Opportunity Before the Brief

Value Identified Before the Project Exists

At Argyle Developments, much of our work begins before a formal project brief exists.

Through our involvement in hotel, residential, and mixed-use assets, we are often asked to review buildings that no longer work in their current configuration. This is particularly common with former hotels, where refurbishment into a viable hospitality asset is not always the right answer.

In many cases, the challenge is not condition or location. It is the relationship between the level of investment required and what the building can realistically support over the long term.

From Existing Use to Viable Outcome

A building can sit in a strong city-centre location and still be fundamentally unsuited to its existing use.

In the case of former hotels, this often becomes apparent when assessed against modern spatial standards and operational requirements. Constraints such as room depths, servicing routes, circulation, access, and inefficient layouts can significantly limit what is realistically achievable, even where demand exists.

In some situations, a light refresh that largely retains existing layouts may allow a building to continue trading. In others, when measured against the quality and layouts required to reposition a hotel properly, the level of intervention needed can render the proposition uneconomic.

That does not mean the building lacks value. It means the value may sit in a different outcome.

Highest and Best Use Before the Brief Is Written

Assessing highest and best use is a strategic discipline, not a technical afterthought.

It requires stepping back from assumptions and understanding what a building can genuinely support once capital cost, planning considerations, risk, and long-term performance are considered together. In well-located urban settings, some legacy hotel assets are better suited to residential or alternative redevelopment, where layouts, light, and access can be reconfigured to work with the building rather than against it.

Value Created Before a Project Exists

For clients, this early-stage perspective creates an additional layer of value:

• Early identification of viable development opportunities

• Clear assessment of highest and best use

• Informed decision-making before capital is committed

• Client-side leadership through design, approvals, and delivery

Seeing the Opportunity Differently

Our role remains the same — acting on behalf of owners and investors, leading projects from concept through completion — but with the added benefit of insight developed before others are even looking.

Good projects often start with seeing the opportunity differently.