It takes about two hours to walk the perimeter of the 625 acres of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and the residential homes that line the route provide an interesting price timeline – one I have watched evolve over the past three decades.
Where next for this jewel in London’s super prime property market?
Some 30 years ago the highest value was, and probably still is, on the west side of the park, looking east over Kensington Palace. Here you’ll find Kensington Palace Gardens, the ultimate millionaires’ row with the Metropolitan Police standing watch at the entrances to this private street lined with sublime villas and mansions.
From a luxury new build perspective, 3a Palace Green was the gold medal winner of the nineties. It was the scheme that set new standards and a whole new benchmark; the first time that hotel concierge was introduced to London apartments, replacing the ex-servicemen porters who traditionally ran residents’ lives and their security. This was courtesy of the Sultan of Brunei who happened to be refurbishing his hotel on Park Lane thus leading the city’s finest concierges to look for work. Today, pretty well all prime London residential schemes are brilliantly serviced but back then it was revolutionary.
Moving into the noughties and travelling east, it was 199 Knightsbridge that caught the early eye, being the first scheme to secure £2,000 per sq ft on a regular basis. Again, the refurbishment of a landmark London hotel did the honours and this time the team from the old Carlton Tower was drafted in to offer residents five-star services.
Quickly on the tails of The Knightsbridge came One Hyde Park. Love it or hate it, it is best in class and broke all price records. It’s serviced by London Mandarin Oriental with much more to boot in the form of views directly into the park, around 30,000 sq ft of amenity, a superb specification and a level of luxury living completely new to the London scene.
Two decades down and into the 2000 teens. Mayfair had long lost its badge as London’s most exclusive residential area to Knightsbridge, but now was its opportunity to seize back the initiative. After all, the best restaurants, hotels and shops are in Mayfair, and Bond Street trumps Sloane Street.
Nothing had been developed in Mayfair of any real significance since Grosvenor Square was being rebuilt in the 1930s. Now a series of new schemes was fighting back for the top spot including Twenty and One Grosvenor Square, which are currently London premier addresses with new schemes in Curzon Street and Audley Square to follow shortly.
As you turn northwards, Marylebone also enjoyed a renaissance in the teens but it’s the north side of the park that looks set fair for the roaring twenties. This side, with south-facing park views, has long been forgotten, the poor relation on this particular compass. The Lancaster's development was a success there in the noughties but became overshadowed by One Hyde Park. However, in this new decade we expect Bayswater to become the next London village, the new Marylebone and the most central London location that currently looks genuinely under-priced.
Two new projects of real note to watch out for are Park Modern with direct views overlooking Kensington Gardens and then the highly anticipated The Whiteley, serviced by Six Senses London.
Values on the north side may never reach the dizzy heights of south, east and west but they are coming off a much lower base and warrant a close look.
