Avenue Road crowned ‘North London’s premier address’ as £500m mega-mansionbuilding boom takes shape

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Avenue Road crowned ‘NorthLondon’s premier address’ as £500mmega-mansion building boom takes

shapeLeafy St John’s Wood thoroughfare has overtaken The

Bishop’s Avenue & Winnnington Road in terms of UHNWbuyer appeal, asserts local agency Aston Chase, and is

now up there with the likes of Kensington Palace Gardens,The Boltons, Cornwall Terrace and Holland Park…

• By PrimeResi • 4th March 2019

St John's WoodAston Chase

Avenue Road has stolen The Bishops Avenue’s crown as the premier residential addressnorth of Regent’s Park, according to a newly-released report.

A flurry of super-sized acquisitions in the last few months has set up a “£500m buildingboom” on the leafy St John’s Wood thoroughfare, concludes NW London agency AstonChase, after carrying out a detailed survey of local sales data and planning records.

The team has just tucked away the Siefert mansion at No. 79 for close to its£13.95m asking, and notes how the 5,216 sq ft property – built in 1954-1955 by architectRichard Seifert as the London home of famous Centre Point developer Harry Hyams – is nowone of twelve mega-mansion schemes either lined up or recently completed on the road.

Overseas buyers – particularly Chinese UHNWI – have been at the forefront of theacquisition spree, which has seen other deals go through at £40.5m (a vast double-plot witha 30,000 sq ft mansion under construction), £30m, £28.5m, £22m and £17.35m (an existing

Avenue Road crowned ‘North London’s premier address’ as £500m mega-mansionbuilding boom takes shape

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5,628 sq ft house with planning to extend up to 10,000 sq ft).

Those currently listed for sale include a £10m development project with consent for a new16,000 sq ft mansion, and a 27,000 sq ft Romanesque whopper valued at a £70m.

The analysis found that around 30% of the makeovers are speculative projects undertakenby ultra-luxury developers for open-market sale, with the remaining 70% comprising privateclient endeavours, where the buyers have purchased the plots and are using specialistcontractors to demolish and replace or extend.

These vast schemes are generally taking up to three years to complete, depending on theplanning status, and producing finished articles ranging in value from £30m to £70m, withfeatures including luxurious entertaining areas, VIP bedroom suites, and multiplesubterranean levels housing leisure complexes, movie screening rooms, wine tasting rooms,sushi bars and garages with space for up to 20 cars.

Buyers have tended to be British, Indian, Middle Eastern or Chinese/South EastAsian families, purchasing for owner-occupation as a principal home, with ages rangingfrom as young as 29, up to their mid-50s. That’s a noticeable shift from thirty years ago,when the majority were domestic UK buyers in their mid-40s to mid-60s, many purchasingwith inherited wealth.

The road was originally laid out in the 1820s by local landowner Henry Samuel Eyre to adesign by the architect John Shaw, and has always been a popular choice for the well-heeled. Notable residents over the years have included writer James Bickingham, landscapepainter William Collins, philosopher Herbert Spencer, film producer Sir Alexander

Avenue Road crowned ‘North London’s premier address’ as £500m mega-mansionbuilding boom takes shape

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Korda, members of the Saudi and Qatari Royal families, Lord Samuel – and of course, HarryHyams.

The marked rise in overseas interest over the last fifteen years, however, is largelyattributed to The Eyre Estate’s decision to begin selling the freehold interests to individualleasehold owners; international buyers have been much more willing to invest as a result,said the firm.

There’s a few reasons why Avenue Road has usurped The Bishops Avenue and WinnningtonRoad as the favoured north London address for international UHNWI in recent years,asserts Aston Chase.

Being able to mosey down to St John’s Wood High Street, Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park isa biggie, as is the availability of very sizeable plots (up to an acre); meanwhile, The BishopsAvenue and neighbouring roads have become “victims of traffic congestion…and no longeroffer short journey into the heart of London”.

Mark Pollack, Co-Founding Director at Aston Chase: “The current buildingboom has transformed Avenue Road and elevated the profile of the address asarguably one of London’s most desirable destinations. In addition to propertiesofficially for sale, others are often available on an ‘off market’ basis since many ofthe owners see their homes on Avenue Road as a tradeable asset, meaning thatvirtually every house is for sale at the right price, reflecting the entrepreneurial

Avenue Road crowned ‘North London’s premier address’ as £500m mega-mansionbuilding boom takes shape

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spirit of the owners.”

“Discerning buyers are drawn to Avenue Road because it is lined with low builthouses of substantial value and runs into Regent’s Park. The generous plots lendthemselves to trophy homes, giving buyers ‘a lot of bang for their buck’.

“Despite ongoing political uncertainty, pent-up demand together with a weakpound and the perception that the market has bottomed out, appear to have litthe touch paper for ultra-high-net-worth dollar based buyers. In many casesbuyers have been monitoring these opportunities and the London market forsome time and have finally swooped. Ironically, despite Brexit and the underlyingongoing threat of another General Election, for the first time in over two yearswe have seen a spate of meaningful sales in highly desirable super primeaddresses like Avenue Road and elsewhere across prime central London.”

Michael Sulkin, Director (houses) at Aston Chase: “Avenue Road hasovertaken The Bishops Avenue and Winnington Road as the premier luxuryaddress in Inner London, north of Regent’s Park. With the new mega-mansionsbeing created it is undoubtedly one of London’s finest addresses appealing to thesame calibre of buyers as the likes of Kensington Palace Gardens, The Boltons,Cornwall Terrace and Holland Park.”

Further Reading

New knock-down price for derelict Bishops Avenue mansionLooking for value for money? Try Billionaires’ Row, says developerGreen light for £250m apartment scheme on Billionaires’ Row