Luxury brands competing for Bond Street properties, a shortage of space for Soho restaurants and a public loo that is set to become an ice cream parlour are among the market stories making the headlines this week.
London’s fashionable Bond Street is already home to many luxury clothing brands including Emporio Armani, Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior. In addition the street is known for its high class jewellers, interior design shops and art dealerships.
Despite the continuing economic uncertainty these outlets are attracting increasing numbers of overseas visitors particularly from China, Brazil and the Middle East.
Consequently demand for commercial property on Bond Street has pushed rents up from £600 per sq ft to £800 per sq ft in the past twelve months. This can rise to as high as £1,000 per sq ft on the southern part of the street.
Prices like these virtually guarantee that luxury brands lead the bidding whenever a property becomes vacant, and competition is fierce.
“For every store that becomes available on Bond Street or Sloane Street, we are seeing around ten international brands fighting for it,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Peter Mace.
Meanwhile a boom in international cuisine is placing space for eateries at a premium in Soho according to Shaftesbury chief executive Brian Bickell.
Speaking to the Evening Standard he said that London is currently the ‘foodie capital of the world,’ and demand for premises shows no sign of slowing down.
Shaftesbury, which invests solely in West End property, has around 240 restaurants and bars among its portfolio, but Westminster Council would like to maintain the balance between shops and eateries.
This makes it ‘virtually impossible’ to obtain planning permission for a change of use to a restaurant in the district, Mr Bickell said.
Finally, a former public lavatory close to Fulham Broadway station is set to become an Italian ice cream parlour following its sale at auction.
The Waltham Green loos were snapped up for £585,000 by Luciano Lo Dico who already runs popular ice cream outlets in Chiswick and Kensington.
Planning permission is already in place for a café or restaurant with a roof terrace and Mr Lo Dico is keen to get the rebuilding underway.
He describes the property as being in a ‘very good location’ which will be ‘perfect for eating ice cream and watching the world go by.’
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