SHEPHERD MARKET MAYFAIR`S ORIGINAL VILLAGE

Transcription

SHEPHERD MARKET
MAYFAIR’S ORIGINAL VILLAGE
MARCH 2016
FOREWORD
“Shepherd Market is one of the last London remnants of
the Georgian era, when buildings were created with human
scale in mind long before the age of the motor car. John
Shepherd who established a market built the first house, now
Number 10, on Curzon land in the 1740s. Shepherd Market’s
present-day squares and alleyways are intimate and
intriguing, the home of cafes, specialist retailers, restaurants,
galleries, pubs and clubs. It remains a delightfully bohemian
residential area, with a strong spirit of community. Our
Shepherd Market Association [SMARRT] hopes to preserve
this precious character for future generations.”
Michael Milburn, resident and Chairman of SMARRT
Delightfully
bohemian and
intriguing...
02 I www.pastor-realestate.com
CONTENTS
Introduction: Shepherd Market - Mayfair’s Original Village
05
History of The Market 08
The Market today: businesses and residents 11
Residents of Shepherd Market
14
Advent of the Shepherd Market Association
14
Sir Stirling Moss – Shepherd Market’s most famous resident
14
Period charm and perfect pied a terres – homes of Shepherd Market
16
Lettings trends
18
Scope for growth
20
The Market as a micro pocket of Mayfair
21
Business owners and their views 23
www.pastor-realestate.com I 03
INTRODUCTION
SHEPHERD MARKET, MAYFAIR’S ORIGINAL VILLAGE
Tucked away between the great thoroughfares of Piccadilly,
Park Lane and Curzon Street in central London is the small
neighbourhood of Shepherd Market. This deeply intriguing
little ‘secret’ pocket of Mayfair with its narrow alleyways and
tiny squares can quite easily be missed if you are heading
down from Berkeley Square or Bond Street to Green Park. But
it’s a place where suddenly life seems to slow down as people
stop to linger in the upscale boutiques, or socialize in the cosy
pubs and restaurants.
CURZON MAYFAIR CINEMA
PASTOR REAL ESTATE
IN AND OUT CLUB
06
This year Mayfair is set to become London’s best-performing prime residential location as its
global cachet has been enhanced by a handful of super-prime new developments. The corner of
it known as Shepherd Market is described as ‘Mayfair’s original village’ because it was the site of
the May Fair, 15 days of festivities that ran from the late thirteenth century, on and off, until the
early eighteenth century. It is still very much a village - arguably the only genuine village remaining
in central London.
Although any kind of street market has long gone from the area, it has remained uniquely
unchanged over the years and this is very much part of its enduring appeal. Indeed, for certain
types of creative or sybaritic people the neighbourhood has always been a much-loved
destination, or home, in its own right, from the time it was also a service area for the high-end
hotels of Park Lane, a hub for theatrical types, a bawdy entertainment district or, in recent years,
a vibrant community of bespoke retailers, art galleries and fashionable restaurants.
Over the many decades of its colourful history the louche edge to life in the Market has ebbed
but never completely disappeared – it is precisely this charming “raffishness” that draws both
business owners and residents alike. It is also the fact that it is so conveniently positioned a short
stroll from theatres, the Curzon Mayfair cinema, the clubs of St James’s and the shopping of
Bond Street, but also for onward travel: it is only five minutes’ walk to the well-connected Green
Park tube station, the numerous buses running along Piccadilly and it offers a quick escape to the
west via the A4. As wider Mayfair continues to evolve into a highly sought-after residential area
of the capital (again), with some landmark new developments on the fringes of Shepherd Market,
what will be the future of this unique community? We canvas the thoughts of retailers and
residents in this look at the evolution of south-east Mayfair.
HISTORY OF THE MARKET
OPEN FIELDS AND THE FUN OF THE FAIR
Mayfair is an area that developed relatively late in London’s history and until the eighteenth
century the area behind the southern end of Piccadilly was open fields with a few cottages owned
by shepherds tending their flocks there.
The May Fair – after which Mayfair is named – began on land that was originally part of the Hospital
of St James (now the site of St James’s Palace) and was started as a feast day to help generate funds
for the hospital. Puppet shows, fencers, gingerbread sellers and roundabout rides were all part of
the fun. It is mentioned in the diaries of Samuel Pepys as the “St James’s Fair” and continued even
after the hospital was closed down by Henry VIII – although it was stopped between 1664 and 1686
for its “detrimental effect” on the population. After 1701 it gained greater stature, expanding west
to Park Lane, but it again fell into disrepute (as detailed in the works of William Hogarth) and as the
area became gentrified it was closed down by George I.
URBANISATION AND THE CREATION OF THE MARKET
By this time the area had begun to be urbanised as after the Great Fire of London wealthy
Londoners moved west to build their elegant homes on the open fields above Piccadilly. Part
of a main road since medieval times, Piccadilly began to gain some of its most grand
residences on its northern side from the 1660s onwards, but it was historically famed for its
great coaching inns and bars. By the 1720s the former area of the May Fair had also become
fashionable and well known, especially the May Fair Chapel for its solemnisation of clandestine
marriages.
It was between 1735 and 1746 that Shepherd Market itself was developed and named – by
Edward Shepherd, a London architect and developer, who amongst his other projects,
designed the house at 94 Piccadilly that would become the famous ‘In and Out Club’ (The
Naval and Military Club). In the central block was a two-storey market, topped with a theatre,
from which paved alleys led, and there was a duck pond towards what is now Hertford Street.
Shepherd lived in the Market at 47 Curzon Street: the house, currently office space, remains
almost unaltered, with the alley running beneath it leading to Ye Grapes pub.
One townhouse, that used to overlook the duck pond towards open fields, was built in 1735
and also still remains amazingly intact. The current owner of the Grade II listed property
overlooking the tree and the little bench in the tiny square reports that his was ‘the first house
in southern Mayfair’. It has been home to an illustrious series of residents, including the actors
Laurence Harvey and Anton Diffring. Its latest occupant has lived there since 1968 (and built
the same bench outside his window). Hertford Street was built in the 1760s and is believed to
have been named after a famous coaching inn, The Hertford Arms that no longer exists.
In the 1800s Shepherd Street was a service area for the big houses as their owners arrived in
London by horse, parked it in the livery stables of the street and then headed off to conduct
their business. The location of the Market – and its history of offering hospitality and pleasure
- has always been key to its allure. The narrow thoroughfares weaving between the colourful
little restaurants are ideal locations for many a clandestine business deal or secret liaison.
It is part of the residents’ folklore that if a gentleman was caught with someone he shouldn’t
he would easily explain his presence in the Market as being because he was on his way to his
club [amongst the many gentlemen’s clubs of Piccadilly/Pall Mall], or his hairdresser [Trumper,
the most famous barber in London is on a nearby stretch of Curzon Street].
BOOMS AND BUSTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The 1920s was in many ways the Market’s heyday attracting high-class residents like “characters in
a Noel Coward play” and an image of glamour. The author Michael Arlen rented rooms there while
he wrote The Green Hat - a best-selling novel in 1924 that went on to be a Broadway play featuring
Greta Garbo. PG Wodehouse’s character Bertie Wooster lived at Half Moon Street, whilst Marlene
Dietrich and Cecil Beaton were neighbours on the Market too. The Times’s drama critic Arthur
Bingham Walkley in 1925 described the Market as “one of the oddest incongruities in London” –
the same might still be said.
After the rigors of the Great Depression, Shepherd Market emerged again as a thriving area of
shops by the 1950s: Harrow School owned the central block of properties (that bear a sign with the
date 1860), whilst the famous pre-theatre eating house of Tiddy Dols (cosy hospitality and
microwaved meals) occupied a block on Hertford Street - where 5 Hertford Street now stands – for
several decades. This much-loved Shepherd Market institution that closed in 1998 was apparently
named after a Georgian gingerbread seller, a colourful character with a flair for flamboyant clothing
– depicted in Hogarth’s writings.
During the 1950s, 60s and 70s the Market’s ever-present strain of notoriety continued: Mama Cass
of The Mamas and Papas and then Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, both died in the same
Curzon Street flat, four years apart.
SHAPED BY HOTELS AND HEDGE FUNDS
By the end of the century Curzon Street – historically famed for its casinos - had become a haven of
fund managers (gaining the moniker ‘Hedge Fund Alley’) and for them the Market became (and still
is) a popular playground – especially the Market Tavern outside which locals would find ‘buckets of
champagne and Gucci handbags in the gutter’.
The proximity of the high-end hotels such as The Dorchester and the Hilton has equally shaped the
fortunes of the Market, with their highly influential concierges blowing hot and cold over the
profligate little village in their midst; by the late 20th century they were warning their guests to stay
away from the raucous and unruly district. Now they actively recommend it and the business owners
report a regular stream of customers sent over by the hotels for handmade jewellery, fine luggage
or good restaurants.
THE MARKET TODAY: BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS
Shepherd Market remains an oasis of calm between the hubbub of Curzon Street - with the Saudi
Arabian Embassy directly opposite the entrance to the Market - and the crowds of Piccadilly. You
can dip under the covered walkway from the former into the little piazza surrounded by restaurants,
shops and ancient pubs, frequented by local office workers, residents and a few tourists.
At the eastern end of the Market is the classic Victorian pub, Ye Grapes (one of four pubs in the
Market) and a hub of new and old cafés, with useful retailers such as the newsagent, a post office,
a stationer’s, cobbler, pharmacy, a dry-cleaner’s, an ironmonger and a couple of barbers.
At the other end, Hertford Street leads towards the back end of the big hotels and its handsome
townhouses offers the consulates of Panama and Thailand, with number 10 Hertford Street offering
two Blue Plaques: the Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (who lived there 1795-1802) and the
British Army officer and dramatist, General John Burgoyne, who resided there 1722-1792. Two of
the Georgian townhouses are divided into several serviced apartments available for holiday lets/
business travellers – at 17 and 20 Hertford Street. Sir George Cayley, aeronautics pioneer, was once
resident at No.20. This is the quieter end of the Market, with the non-working mews streets of
Shepherd Street and Market Mews ideal for residential life – and where the Market’s most famous
resident, the former racing driver Sir Stirling Moss, has lived for over sixty years.
Five to ten years ago, many of the shops were empty, now nearly all are occupied and hosting
thriving businesses, with a noticeable shift upmarket. The retail tenant mix has definitely improved,
which seems to be a policy of the major landlord in the Market, Motcomb Estates.
NICHE LUXURY AND BESPOKE RETAILERS
If you head across the square south you will pass the King’s Arms pub and hit Piccadilly via the
darkly Dickensian White Horse Street, but if you head east you’ll find the upmarket boutiques of the
central block (with a façade that has been smartened up since Motcomb Estates became the
owner). Whether you seek a rifle for a shooting party at Sandringham, a safari suit, a pair of jodhpurs
or a bespoke 3D designed diamond ring, you will not have to walk far. Lining the streets of Shepherd
Market and Shepherd Street are tiny boutiques such as Anderson Wheeler the gun-maker,
Gladstone the luxury luggage label; Simon Carter menswear, Polistas polo clothing, and two
jeweller’s, Guy & Max (blacked out windows; by appointment only) and J&C Martin. With the
exception of the small branches of Ryman’s and Snappy Snaps there is a complete absence of chain
stores or high-street brands.
ECLECTIC ART GALLERIES
You’ll also find four little art galleries – and maybe more to come with the trend of big fashion
houses marching out of Bond Street to take space in Albemarle/Cork/Dover Streets, and pushing
out the independent art galleries. The most high profile is Bankrobber (purveyor of the mysterious
Banksy and Damien Hirst); the newest is the Hignell Gallery (sculpture and modern art) opposite
the popular Georgian pub, the Market Tavern, since last autumn.
RENOWNED RESTAURANTS
The Market has always attracted an eclectic range of restaurants and cafes, with some that have
remained for many years, including the French Le Boudin Blanc and L’Artiste Muscle, and the
Turkish Sofra – all much-loved institutions with regulars from around the world. The same might be
said of the relative newbie, Kitty Fisher’s, a tiny restaurant on the main square that has been fully
booked and critically acclaimed since it opened 18 months ago by three friends, Tom Mullion, Tim
Steel and Oliver Milburn.
5 HERTFORD STREET
Without doubt the arrival of London’s most exclusive private members’ club in Shepherd Market
five years ago has helped elevate the area and attract further several upscale new businesses.
5 Hertford Street occupies a once-derelict three-storey block that has been transformed by Robin
Birley, son of the late Mark Birley - the founder of Annabel’s nightclub in Berkeley Square – into a
sumptuous yet highly discreet labyrinth of dining and drinking spaces, including a nightclub in the
basement, Loulou’s. The décor is opulent and extravagant, by fashion designer Rifat Ozbek.
“It has brought back an identity to the area and recognition from around the world,” says Guy
Shepherd of nearby jeweler, Guy & Max. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Mick Jagger and Kate Moss
are reported to be amongst those on its secret members list; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
have been guests of members. In the process of being given a facelift, the club will this summer
extend to the two upper floors.
RESIDENTS OF SHEPHERD MARKET
The Market has always attracted artistic, theatrical and flamboyant types of character – and those that
love its sense of community. A core group of residents have lived there for a long time – some as many
as 60 years – and in Shepherds House and Carrington House there are a lot of pied a terres, with a
good mix of both international and national owners.
Why do they stay? “It’s perfectly located, a 10 minute walk to the opera, so easy to reach anywhere
from Green Park tube or the buses on Piccadilly,’ says one long-time owner. “Kensington is too
pretentious, Belgravia too boring, this is more [quintessentially] Mayfair than Mayfair.”
Another resident – who has lived in the Art Deco block that is Shepherds House for over 30 years –
calls it a ‘forgotten place’. “I feel very lucky to live here,” she says. “I brought up my son here and feel
safe and secure to live alone.” One of her neighbours agrees: “I have lived in Shepherds House for
around 13 years, and in that time many aspects of the Market have remained unchanged, retaining its
period feel, all the while staying a welcoming place,” she says. “I have not experienced this feeling of
‘village’ anywhere else in London - long may this last. Our hidden gem, Shepherd Market.”
ADVENT OF THE SHEPHERD MARKET ASSOCIATION
The unique sense of (cordial) community described by many of the residents and business owners
- in the following pages - has been helped in large part by the creation of The Shepherd Market
Association of Retailers, Residents and Traders (SMARRT) five years ago.
Set up with long-time resident Sir Stirling Moss as the Honorary President and Michael Milburn as
Chairman – the Association has brought about improvements to the Market as well as fostering the
social side. Another key role has been reconciling the oft-divergent aspirations of both residents
and business owners so they can work together to improve the Market.
“I don’t know another area of London where residents and business owners co-exist so harmoniously,
because of course they usually want different things,” says Lucy Pridden, the driving force behind
the Shepherd Market Association. “The term ‘village in London’ is used by estate agents quite a lot
these days to describe different areas, but here it really does apply.”
Improvements include the relaying of road surfaces (Trebeck Street), the planning of better lighting
on White Horse Street, and already improved policing and more conveniently timed rubbish
collections. On the social side there are now summer and winter parties for members, with another
highlight the turning-on of the Market’s Christmas lights (sponsored by Pastor Real Estate).
“
“
I have lived very happily in Shepherd Market since the 1950s when my present home was a bombsite.
The Hilton Hotel offered to sell me the hotel next door and the site – I just took this little plot of land
and with an architect on board I designed by own home, and it was my best investment ever (I also
owned another property on the same street but sold it). Back then Shepherd Market was a red-light
district and there was a town crier – it was a close-knit community and still remains so. I have always
loved the area since I had an office there – that was even before this house – and it suited my lifestyle
back then, as it does now. I used to have a boardroom in the basement of the house, and then I had a
housekeeper living there when I was a bachelor. Now it is a guest suite for my wife Susie and I.
It is ideal being able to walk to restaurants (my favourite is Le Boudin Blanc) and it is so wonderfully
peaceful, tucked away in a little mews street. We have always felt safe here; in fact it is my favourite
place in the world – although the weather is better at our other home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! We
feel very lucky to live in the Market and I hope this little part of Mayfair doesn’t change too much. A
casino has offered to buy my house but I will never sell.
Sir Stirling Moss, resident and Honorary President of the Shepherd Market Association
SHEPHERD MARKET CHRISTMAS LIGHTS 2015
11
PERIOD CHARM AND PERFECT PIED A TERRES –
THE HOMES OF SHEPHERD MARKET
For those who seek a home in the Market or immediate surrounding area, there are a limited, but
attractive range of options. It is interesting to note that of the estimated 4,070 residential
dwellings in Mayfair, just over 700 are located in Shepherd Market (W1J 7). Over 70% of this 700
are apartments (a typical ratio for Mayfair housing stock) and over the past five years, 88% of the
Market’s 99 property sales were apartments.
Put simply, and with a few exceptions, you can live in a property above a business, a Georgian
townhouse or in one of the relatively modern, or even brand-new, blocks of apartments. The
average price per square foot in all types of property is less than the Mayfair average, demonstrating
the potential for greater growth.
SHEPHERD MARKET
88%
12 %
APARTMENTS
HOUSES
99
£4.85m
MOST EXPENSIVE
APARTMENT
SOLD
TOTAL SALES
(since 1st Jan 2011)
SALES
OVER LAST
5
YEARS
£2,001,000
£6.8m
Average price of
MOST EXPENSIVE
HOUSE
SOLD
ALL PROPERTY
SOLD
£1,723,000
£4,089,000
Average price of
Average price of
APARTMENT
SOLD
HOUSE
SOLD
APARTMENTS
Eighty per cent of the apartments sold in Shepherd Market over the past five years have just one or
two bedrooms – so with Mayfair’s comparable quotient 63% it is clear that properties tend to be
smaller. In fact data shows that the average apartment sold in 2015 was 833 sq ft (77.4 sq m) – in
Mayfair it was 1,287 sq ft (119.5 sq m).
The typical unit is a one-bed apartment above a retail unit (there aren’t many offices above
businesses, it is predominantly residential) – which tend to have a fairly small footprint. A one-bed
apartment will typically cost from around £800,000 to £1.4 million; although at the time of writing
there is a well-presented one available with a short lease (38 years) for £775,000 (through Pastor
Real Estate). Also, it is interesting to note that a one-bedroom first-floor apartment on Hertford
Street sold in 2015 for £2.8 million at the asking price – clearly when such rare properties come up
for sale, they get snapped up. A two-bedroom apartment will cost from around £1 - £2.1 million; a
three-bedroom property from circa £1.8 - £2.5 million.
MANSION BLOCKS IDEAL FOR PIED A TERRES
There are also apartment buildings and purpose-built mansion blocks that might be purchased
by parents for children, investors, full-time residents – most commonly – as a secondary residence.
These are ideal lock up and leave pied a terres in the heart of Mayfair – at less than the Mayfair
average. Of the property sales in the Market in 2015, all but two of the transactions were in one
of three large purpose-built apartment blocks.
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?
The 24-hour portered Carrington House on Hertford Street has the highest turnover due to its
size. Last year four of its 73 apartments changed hands, for between £925,000 (one-bedroom)
and £2.1 million (two-bedroom). One and two-bedroom apartments there are currently offered
for sale for between £995,000 and £1.3 million.
There is also the elegant redbrick Garrick House on Carrington Street (no porterage) where you
can buy a studio apartment for £550,000, or a nicely presented lateral one-bed apartment for
£1.1 million. Two properties changed hands last year – for between £440,000 (short lease) and
£825,000 – and two (one-bedroom) properties are offered for sale this year at £995,000 to £1.1
million. According to Zoopla, the average value of an apartment on Carrington Street (37
apartments, including a couple of offices) is £744,445.
The smallest option is the Art Deco block of Shepherds House on Shepherd Street, with 14
apartments sharing a communal roof garden, home to two of the residents quoted above. Last
year a two-bed apartment sold for £1,150,000 and a two-bed, two-bath apartment there is
currently offered for £1.2 million.
MEWS STYLE TOWNHOUSES
For many the quintessential property of this area is a four or five storey mews house on a quiet
street set back from the clamour of Curzon Street, or the epicentre of the Market. These three or
four bedroomed homes cost between £5 and £6 million, depending on their size, state and location.
The best choice can be found on Market Mews and Shepherd Street, although a three-bedroom
freehold home on Shepherd Street sold last year for £5.9 million. Far from any late-night revelry at
the pubs of the other end of the Market, these streets are tranquil and ideal for full-time residents.
One cannot say that Shepherd Market is a family-friendly area, yet there are one or two families here.
According to LonRes/Land Registry, the average price of a house sold in Shepherd’s Market over
the past five years is £4,089,000, with the most expensive being £6.8 million. For sales between 2013
and 2015, the figure is £4.6 million – compared with the Mayfair average of £10.7 million.
For apartments, the average sale over the past five years in the Market is £1.72 million – the most
expensive being £4.85 million; whilst for the period 2013 - 2015, the figure is £1.9 million – somewhat
less than the Mayfair average of £3.2 million. If you prefer price per square foot, the averages for
apartments are £1,943 on the Market; £2,218 in Mayfair.
RECENT SALES (2013 – 2015) – COMPARISON SHEPHERD MARKET AND MAYFAIR – £PSF AND PRICE
LOCATION
APARTMENTS
HOUSES
ALL PROPERTIES
Average
£psf
Average
price
Average
£psf
Average
price
Average
£psf
Average
price
Shepherd Market
£1,943
£1.9 million
£2,013
£4.6 million
£1,950
£2.2 million
Mayfair
£2,218
£3.2 million
£2,219
£10.7 million
£2,218
£4.1 million
Source: LonRes/Land Reg
LETTINGS TRENDS
The majority of the lettings market involves apartments – 93% – with the average weekly rent of an
average size property (900 sq ft (83.6 sq m)) in 2015 at £901. Of the 413 lettings in past five years,
59% rented for between £500 and £1,000 per week. The most expensive apartment let being £7,000
per week; with £50,000 per week the highest rate being achieved for a house in that time.
How does this compare to the Mayfair average? Between 2013 and 2015:
•
Mayfair offered 1,685 properties for rent; 248 were in Shepherd Market
•
Mayfair’s average rent was £1,257 per week; Shepherd Market’s was £850.50 (apartments)
•
For houses the differential was a little less: Mayfair’s average house rented for £3,674; in Shepherd Market it was £3,206 (per week)
AVERAGE WEEKLY RENTS – COMPARISON OF SHEPHERD MARKET AND MAYFAIR
£1,500
£1,000
£500
£0
Shepherd Market
(Apartments)
2006
2011
Mayfair
(Apartments)
Shepherd Market
(All properties)
Mayfair
(All properties)
2015
Source: Dataloft, LonRes
How much have rental rates increased?
Apartments in Shepherd Market let for 26.3% more in 2015 than they did in 2006. The comparable
figure for Mayfair is 69.7%.
Across all types of property, the increases are 30.7% and 66.3% respectively. The conclusion? It’s
(still) more affordable to rent an apartment in the Market than in the neighbouring areas of
Mayfair – as with the sales figures, the Market is lagging behind and offers good scope for growth.
GROWTH IN THE LETTINGS MARKET
SHEPHERD MARKET
Apartments
All properties
Apartments
All properties
% change last 5 yrs
13.7%
12.2%
34.9%
32.6%
% change last 10 years
26.2%
30.7%
69.7%
66.3%
Source: LonRes
MAYFAIR
GROWTH IN THE MARKET 2013 – 2015
LOCATION
Shepherd Market
Mayfair
Number of
properties
being let
AVERAGE WEEKLY RENTAL
Average size
Apartments
Houses
All property
(apts let
2013-2015)
248
£850.50
£3,206
£1,002
862 sq ft
1,685
£1,257
£3,674
£1,318
1,044 sq ft
Source: LonRes
SHEPHERD MARKET: TRENDS OVER LAST 5 YEARS
413
Lettings since
January 2011
93%
OF LETS WERE
APARTMENTS
£ 7,000
£ 50,000
MOST EXPENSIVE
APARTMENT
MOST EXPENSIVE
HOUSE
PER WEEK
7%
OF LETS WERE
HOUSES
PER WEEK
59%
WERE LET FOR
BETWEEN
£500 - £1,000
per week
83%
OF LETS WERE
1 OR 2 BEDS*
* compared to 79% across Mayfair
SHEPHERD MARKET: TRENDS SEEN IN 2015
69
PROPERTIES
WERE LET
94%
OF LETS WERE
APARTMENTS
900sqft
AVERAGE
FLOOR SIZE OF
PROPERTIES
LET
£901
AVERAGE WEEKLY
RENTAL OF ALL
PROPERTY
SCOPE FOR GROWTH
Clearly Mayfair as a whole has shown substantial uplift over the past 10 years, with an average of
47.3% increase in price per square – compared with Shepherd Market’s 41.4%. The corresponding
figures for the last decade are 172% and 145% respectively (source: LonRes). “More investors
should look at it and see the value and growth potential,” says David Lee, Head of Sales at Pastor
Real Estate. “The area has improved considerably over recent years, and there is a lot of
residential development in the pipeline in the vicinity of the Market.”
According to current research there are 82 new private residential units within the development
pipeline for Shepherd Market: 44 in schemes that have received permission and 38 on two
schemes currently in the application process. These include some new mews-style houses on the
south side of Shepherd Street. A new block of luxury apartments is planned for the big empty
site on White Horse Street, opposite Café MISH.
GROWTH IN THE MARKET (LAST 5 YEARS 2011–2015. LAST 10 YEARS 2006-2015)
LOCATION
PROPERTY
Increase in average £psf
APARTMENTS
Increase in average £psf
over last
five years
over last
10 years
over last
five years
over last
10 years
Shepherd Market
41.4%
145%
38.9%
149%
Mayfair
47.3%
172%
46.7%
171%
Source: LonRes
172
145
149
171
Shepherd Market
Mayfair
41.4 47.3
38.9 46.7
ALL PROPERTIES
APARTMENTS
PENCENTAGE OF GROWTH IN AVERAGE £PSF
LAST 5 YEARS (2011-2015)
Source: Dataloft, LonRes
ALL PROPERTIES
APARTMENTS
PENCENTAGE OF GROWTH IN AVERAGE £PSF
LAST 10 YEARS (2006-2015)
THE MARKET AS A MICRO POCKET OF
MAYFAIR’S DEVELOPMENT
Mayfair has for years been stuck in time and starved of new developments, but in the last decade
we have seen old office spaces acquired to develop into prime residential. In fact, as mentioned
earlier, this year it is set outperform Knightsbridge and Chelsea in terms of price growth – sales in
prime central London fell by 19.5% in the first half of 2015, with the fall of 37% in Chelsea and 27%
in Knightsbridge, but only 0.9% in Mayfair in the same period*. This can be partly be explained by
the new high-class amenities and developments it is gaining, but also because it is playing catchup. It is possible to suggest that this is the most exciting decade for 100 years for Mayfair.
The southern end of Piccadilly – opposite Green Park - is set for some dramatic and well overdue
rejuvenation after being pervaded by a sense of neglect. The Grade I listed once palatial
Cambridge House – the former home of Lord Palmerstone – was bought by the Naval and
Military Club and became known as the ‘In and Out Club’ for the iconic signs on its gateposts.
When the private members club moved it lay empty for many years but now planning permission
has been granted on a £250 million restoration that could make it London’s most expensive home.
THE IN AND OUT CLUB, PICCADILLY
A property fund has also acquired 90-93 & 100 Piccadilly, 95 Piccadilly (the American Club) and
the long leasehold interest at 105 Piccadilly.
Then there is the high-profile new development on the corner of Piccadilly and Clarges Street
where British Land is redeveloping the site of a former secret services building and its neighbour
into a mixed use project of retail, office and residential. It has been reported that sales of the
super-prime penthouses in the project - Clarges Mayfair - that overlook Green Park towards
Buckingham Palace have topped £5,000 per square foot, a record for Mayfair. Completion is due
this year. David Lee of Pastor Real Estate comments “The appetite for these apartments when
they were released showed the pent-up demand for property in this area.”
These schemes are part of the wider trend of the relocation of embassies and offices south of the
river (to Nine Elms) and the grand old buildings of Mayfair are returning to their original role as
elegant residential mansions. Shepherd Market offers a range of residential property, but office
space in the area is currently quite limited.
Business owners in Shepherd Market have expressed their hope that Clarges Mayfair - along with
the refurbishment of the In and Out Club - will be game-changer for this stretch of Piccadilly, and
their little ‘village’ tucked away behind it.
* Figures taken from Knight Frank
“The Boudin [Blanc] was previously owned by my father, and in the 1970s the
market was a heaving little community with a hippy market, a town crier and
streetwalkers. By the late 1980s these were gone, rents went up, the Tiddy
Dols restaurant closed and it was a pretty bleak picture. During the recession
of the 1990s all the expensive restaurants were empty, and people living in
Mayfair dined more frequently at the better value Boudin and we doubled in
size. Today the market is buzzing again as over the last five years some of the
best restaurant operators in the world have moved into Mayfair and around
the market. Robin Birley has greatly helped to change the area, and bespoke
shops have made the Market a new must-go-to destination. In 40 years the
market has had good times and bad times but now it’s stronger than ever.”
Graham Corrett, Le Boudin Blanc Restaurant
“I’ve always been fond of
Shepherd Market and when the
former site of Tiddy Dols came
up for rent I knew it was the
perfect site for my club. The
Market is a village in the true
sense of the word and, like our
neighbours, we shop locally as
much as we can.” Robin Birley,
5 Hertford Street, Private
Members Club
“As a start-up company for
artistic, fine jewellery Mayfair
was where we wanted to be and
as we couldn’t afford Mount
Street we headed to Shepherd
Market eight years ago. What
with sharing a name [Shepherd],
we felt it was fate. This
bohemian and artistic village
has always resonated with us
and physically it has not hugely
changed. We still have boutique
artisans and it would be a
shame for these to be replaced
by branches of Gucci. For our
style of business – bespoke and
by appointment – the Market is
perfect, and 5 Hertford Street
has transformed the area. If the
residents carry on working
together on the area, it could
yet be the same in 150 years.”
Guy and Max Shepherd, Guy &
Max Fine Jewellers
“When we opened in the 1987
recession it was ironic that the
rents were cheaper in Mayfair than
in Ilford [east London]. The Market
was a bit threadbare back then
but now we have a superclub next
door [5 Hertford Street] and I have
Joan Collins and Tom Ford
coming in for their holiday
pictures. We also have some
highly glamorous brands now but
they are all owner operated – and
that is what makes us different
from Mount Street. When retail
staff of global brands are removed
from the realities of rents there
isn’t the same community spirit,
which has also been revived by
the forming of the Shepherd
Market Association five years ago.
The market in three words?
Colour, charisma and community.”
Scott Collier, Owner of Snappy
Snaps photography
“Seeking a place for my new modern art gallery, I happened
upon Shepherd’s Market after combing the streets of Mayfair
and St James’s. I fell in love with the soul of the place and
when I opened in October I had the warmest welcome –
everyone helps each other. People come to linger and
socialize, not just to go shopping, and that makes it special,
although there are still a lot of people who haven’t heard of
it as it is tucked away, a bit like a Dickensian village. In fact I
feel like I am walking onto a film set every morning.” Abby
Hignell, Hignell Gallery
“The Market has really taken off in
the past two years. When we – the
second set of jeweller brothers –
arrived in 2005 there were a lot
of vacant shops. Our client base is
now a mixture of residents and
tourists who come from the hotels
on Park Lane. The concierges used
to tell the wealthy Americans to
avoid Shepherd Market – but now
it’s quite the opposite.” Casey and
Jamie Martin, J&C Martin Jewellery
“I was working for Tanner Kroll next
to Annabel’s on Berkeley Square,
and when I heard that Robin Birley
was opening a club in Shepherd
Market, I moved here six years go.
At that time a few properties were
empty, but I found the perfect site,
with a sightline of the little bench in
the middle of the small square.
Back then the market was the area
that serviced the VCs [venture
capitalists], who dropped in their
shirts at the dry cleaners’ and
managed to find everything they
needed here. Now most of those
businesses have gone, but the
flamboyant characters and eclectic
customers remain. The exiled
Queen of Greece once popped by
to have her beauty case repaired. It’s
a little oasis of calm when you turn
off from the crowds on Piccadilly.”
John O’ Sullivan, Gladstone Luxury
Luggage (was Tanner Krolle)
“The market is a great little
village in Mayfair and there
is a great diversity to it.
We arrived 18 months ago
and have found it always
kicking. I love the clientele,
a mixture of old school,
classy and fashionable.”
Ali Kahraman, Owner of
Jack the Clipper Barbers
“My family has a long history in the Market. My father [Michael Milburn] bought
the building that now houses Kitty Fisher’s in the late 1990s and still has an
apartment on the upper floors. There was once an after-hours drinking club, The
Little House, upstairs, whilst downstairs ended up as a derelict kebab shop after
various guises. When Tim [Steel], Tom [Mullion] and I were looking to set up a
restaurant, we thought it a perfect site, in an up and coming area, ideally positioned
between Curzon Street and Piccadilly. We opened in December 2014 and have
found the place to be full of extraordinary characters. There’s a raffishness and
enough of a rough edge about it that you cannot find anywhere else in central
London now – even Clerkenwell is more gentrified. It would be a shame if
Shepherd Market lost this identity.” Oliver Milburn, Kitty Fisher’s Restaurant
“The market has still got the traditional
core businesses that locals rely on like
a pharmacy, a newsagent, ironmonger,
stationer, dry cleaner and barber.
These services are really important
and although the area has become
more artistic since we arrived six years
ago, I still love the atmosphere. I know
all the locals by sight and it’s also
quite unique the amount of long-term
residents in the Market. Long may it
continue.” Kalpesh Pancholi, The
Pharmacy at Mayfair
“I have been the manager here for 15 years, although the restaurant has
been open since the 1960s. Back then Elton John and Mick Jagger used
to be here – it was a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. It is hard for small businesses to
survive and we have more competition now – and I hope the Market
doesn’t lose its unique spirit. We have customers who will eat here every
day when they come to London every year on business from Australia,
New Zealand or USA. We have had some great actors stop by too – from
Benicio del Toro to Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman. A lot of people are
still surprised that an alleyway that would not look out of place in a film
about Jack the Ripper [White Horse Street] opens out onto a little French
style village square.” Rani Haj, L’Artiste Muscle Restaurant
“Built in 1882, the pub is one of the
only independent free houses and
we are famed for our Old English
style – we try to update yet maintain
the true character of the place that
keeps our trade growing every year.
It’s a part of Mayfair that not everyone
knows still and I wouldn’t say it is
exclusive. It has certainly moved
upmarket and, again, it’s a fine
balance between sustaining the old
charm and essential progress.
Although the red-light aspect has all
but disappeared, it certainly has a
certain curiosity value that draws
people to shop and socialize here.
With a Thai restaurant upstairs we
have a lot of custom from the
Japanese Embassy on Piccadilly, but
we also get tourists and office
workers. I live above the pub and it’s
fabulous just being able to walk over
to Green Park in five minutes.” Jeff
Foreman, Manager, Ye Grapes
freehouse
“The boutique aspect of the Market was ideal for the family-owned
business that was founded in Niarobi as a safari outfitters and we
moved here eight years ago. Our main business now is bespoke
gun-making, and the discreet, village feel of the Market is the right
fit for the company – further east towards Bond Street is now too
oriented towards high fashion. For those who love gun making, we
are part of the tour of the six London gun rooms [Purdey in South
Audley Street being the nearest] and American buyers fly over to
see us. Yes, the clientele has changed over the past five years, but
it remains wonderfully wide based, and free of big companies.”
Nicholas Harlow, Anderson Wheeler Gun & Rifle Makers
“I like to think the Market is
a miniature version of
Berkeley Square, but there
you don’t get the little
40-year-old businesses such
as the barber, or the louche
history of the place. In fact
the seedy past is now almost
a branding exercise, with
Kitty Fisher’s naming itself
after the eighteenth-century
courtesan. We opened in
October and love the
Market. Our customers are
local residents, local workers
– from the precious metal
mining company upstairs,
Curzon Street or the Japanese
Embassy, with a few tourists.”
Gush Jutlay, Café MISH
gourmet sandwiches
I have been here since I
bought the kebab shop
from my former boss
and turned it into the
successful restaurant that
it is still today. At the time
the locals told me I would
only last five weeks. I still
love the Market as a piece
of Old England. Although
we need to get back a
butcher, or a baker – even
a street market – but it’s
still the best village in the
world. In fact we have
customers from abroad
that return after twenty
or thirty years.” Huseyin
Ozer, Sofra Restaurant
“We are the only hardware shop in
Mayfair – there is nothing else from
the Marylebone Flyover to Victoria.
Although the rent has doubled
since we arrived in 2002 we have a
lot of regular customers amongst
the local residents, such as Stirling
Moss, and Ravi Shastri [the former
Indian cricketer] and also from 5
Hertford Street.” Bhavesh Kerai,
Romany ironmongers
“As a long-time resident of Mayfair I have known the market
over two decades and seen the positive changes in the last
few years with more interesting retailers. Shepherd Market
Wine House arrived at the start of October after two years of
planning – I had to negotiate to get licensing for both a wine
shop and a wine bar. It’s a special space with shops run by
individuals with a passion that I see in The Royal Opera Arcade
[Pall Mall] where I run a similar business. I am particularly
looking forward to the [revival of the] May Fair.” Nathan Lowry,
Shepherd Market Wine House
ABOUT PASTOR REAL ESTATE
Based at 48 Curzon Street, Pastor Real Estate is a true property specialist, with over four
generations of real estate expertise and is part of the Monaco based Pastor group of companies.
Pastor Real Estate offer:
•
Full service estate agency – sales and lettings
•
Property management
•
Project management
•
Investment consultation
•
Architectural services
•
Planning and design (inc. interiors)
T 020 3195 9595 F 020 3195 9596 E contact@pastor-realestate.com
www.pastor-realestate.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz Rowlinson is a property journalist covering UK and overseas markets for the national newspapers
for over 15 years.
Legal Disclaimer:
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this report, data and figures quoted are
intended to give an indication of actual and potential value. They should not be relied upon or used as a basis for valuation
or decision making and no assurance is given as to their accuracy.
Pastor Real Estate
48 Curzon Street
LONDON W1J 7UL
United Kingdom
T +44 (0) 20 3195 9595
F +44 (0) 20 3195 9596
E contact@pastor-realestate.com
www.pastor-realestate.com

SHEPHERD MARKET MAYFAIR`S ORIGINAL VILLAGE

Transcription

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