NEWS ON NEW BOND STREET: There is no stopping the fashion momentum on New Bond Street, which is already the most expensive shopping thoroughfare in Europe and the third most expensive worldwide, after Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and upper Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Trophaeum Asset Management, which owns most of Albemarle Street, other properties on Bond Street and chunks of prime space around London, said it purchased a 15,000-square-foot retail block on New Bond from a firm controlled by the banker Joseph Safra.
Trophaeum paid 130 million pounds for the building, which currently houses Halcyon Gallery on the ground floor, and “the location has great potential for a future fashion maison,” said Matt Farrell, managing director at Trophaeum. “The Halcyon Gallery is situated in what has become the new prime pitch on Bond Street for luxury fashion brands.”
Farrell added that Trophaeum was “very keen to acquire the building, regardless of the chaos related to Brexit,” and made its move in response to increased investor appetite.
As reported, Versace is set to open a unit in what is now the Bally flagship, on the corner of New Bond Street and Maddox Street. The new London store, which will open later this year, will span 7,244 square feet, and offer a full selection of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories over three floors. Canali, meanwhile, has signed a new 10-year lease for a site on the corner of New Bond Street and Brook Street that will span 5,014 square feet over three floors.
Safra is the owner of the investment firm J. Safra, and has a number of London properties. The Brazil-based company owns The Gherkin tower and plans to build a skyscraper called The Tulip in the City of London.
Trophaeum has added more than 25 new businesses to Albemarle Street over the last five years, including Self-Portrait, Thom Browne, Agnona, Amanda Wakeley and Aquazzura. It also has a large portfolio of existing properties on Bond Street and St John’s Wood High Street. The business said it uses data to understand an area’s customers and curates the destination accordingly.
The landlord recently reported that rents on Albemarle Street are up 175 per cent, from 200 pounds per square foot in 2014 to 550 pounds per square foot in 2019.