Mayfair tipped to become 'world's most expensive address' with new luxury development

1 Mayfair, a £2 billion new build development, features 24 main apartments

Caudwell's £2 billion 1 Mayfair features 24 main apartments. Photo: Caudwell

A luxury new build development in Mayfair is set to go on sale in the coming months, with experts predicting the project will help seal the central London neighbourhood’s reputation as the world’s most expensive address.

1 Mayfair, which is being built on the site of a former car park and hotel, is scheduled for completion in late 2025. It is on the doorstep of Park Lane and Hyde Park, close to Mount Street.

It will feature 24 main apartments, with five further studios and staff suites, which developer Caudwell values at £2 billion.

The asking prices for individual properties have not yet been set and interested parties are being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.

But industry experts expect them to become among the most expensive apartments in the city. The current record is held by the £175 million penthouse owned by billionaire property mogul, Nick Candy at nearby One Hyde Park.

“We’ve had quite a bit of interest, including an offer on one of the apartments already,” Lars Christiaanse, Group Director of Sales at Caudwell told The National.

“It’s a real mix. We have had British interest, European interest and an offer from a mainland European person. We’ve had a lot of North American interest and some interest from the Gulf, in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kuwait.”

The developer, a company owned by British billionaire John Caudwell, bought the site for £150 million in 2011.

The eight storey block, which has Portland Stone facades, will feature entertaining halls and lounges designed around a central garden, spa and swimming pool, with basement parking, 24-hour security, hotel-style concierge and valet parking.

The project secured planning permission before a rule came into force limiting the size of new properties in Mayfair, making it one of the last of new mega-sized apartment blocks in central London.

Developers can no longer build residences of over 2,000 square feet. “Ours are substantially larger than the 2,000 square feet limit. The biggest is 16,500 square feet,” said Mr Christiaanse.

But it is coming to market at a time described as “awkward” in a recent Bloomberg report, with tumbling valuations and deepening discounts for prime central London property, including a Belgravia mansion which was sold at a loss of about 30 per cent.

Mr Christiaanse dismissed the concerns, pointing out the Mayfair market is driven by (lack of) supply rather than demand.

Caudwell is confident the development offers what people are looking for in the price bracket, he said.

“Yes, the market is struggling slightly, but at the level we are dealing at, we have 24 main residences only.

“When we complete in two years’ time, there is nothing that can compete with our end product. The sizes are not available any more. So in that sense I am very positive we will do very well. And the number of enquiries we get on a weekly basis of £50m plus are staggering.”

Charles Lloyd, head of Beauchamp Estates in Mayfair, told The National suggestions that the prime market is struggling are wrong.

“I think there is a misconception about discounts. If a property has been on the market for a long period of time at an inflated price, and a buyer comes along and picks it up at a discount from that asking price, the price they’re actually paying might just be market value,” he said.

“It’s not a discount on market value. It’s a discount on the asking price.”

Beauchamp Estates predicts the Mayfair luxury homes market will hit a record £15,000 per square foot, which would make it the world’s most expensive address.

Values are currently about £10,000 per square foot in Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square, figures only rivalled by Knightsbridge.

Worldwide, Monaco is the most expensive property market, with an average price per square foot of £4,157, followed by Hong Kong, with an average of £3,587, then New York, with an average price of £2,043, according to Savills. London came in seventh place, with an average average price per square foot of £1,655. The average price per square foot in Dubai is £578, said Savills.

The Mayfair market is being driven by ultra-wealthy buyers from eight countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, UK, Canada, Pakistan and India.

Over the last four months Beauchamp Estates made £100 million of sales to buyers from the US, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, he said.

They included a £30.45 million deal in December 2023, for a 5,818 square foot penthouse, a neighbouring three bedroom 2,700 square foot apartment and a staff flat at Greybook House to a businessman from Abu Dhabi.

The biggest home sale in Mayfair during 2023 was Aberconway House, a mansion bought for a reported £138 million by an Indian billionaire.

Beauchamp said low stock levels in Mayfair, especially for new build apartments which are favoured by many overseas buyers, have caused prices to strengthen. And the value of property is predicted to keep on rising, Mr Lloyd added.

“London has a finite amount of space. It has a finite amount of buildings that can be converted into large super prime or ultra prime apartments,” said Mr Lloyd.

“Mayfair 1 is the last super prime or ultra-prime [development of its kind] that will be available for the foreseeable future until Westminster change their planning laws again.

“That lack of new super prime or ultra-prime apartments coming to the market over the next five to 10 years will drive up the value of the product there.”