Case Studies

Aybrook Street, London

Purchased this Marylebone office and depot site for £15.5 million. Created 88 private flats and 38 affordable flats with underground parking, plus one retail outlet. Record sales prices achieved.

At first glance, Aybrook Street was not the most promising development opportunity. Part of the 0.85 acre site, owned by the LEB, was a listed office building. The rest was used as a depot and hadn’t been built on. The site had no planning consent.

Market opportunity

To undertake Marylebone’s biggest residential redevelopment for over a century by converting the existing building into apartments and developing the depot areas of the site. Aybrook’s location at the heart of Marylebone Village, an up-and-coming gem in the West End, also offered great potential for growth in residential prices.

Strategy

We purchased the site off-market for £15.5 million. Gaining the required planning consent was a challenge because the local planning authority originally wished to retain the entire building. However, we successfully demonstrated that only the façade had merit. Demolishing this façade to create a bigger scheme was considered, but would have led to long delays with no guarantee of success. In the end, planning consent was secured within six months and construction began immediately. Accommodating the 88 apartments and 38 affordable apartments involved adding an extra floor to part of the existing building and redeveloping the rest of the site around a central courtyard. Selling off-plan began in Spring 2006 and some 75% of the apartments had been sold by the start of 2007, achieving record prices in Marylebone and transforming the local market.

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