Gucci’s former London headquarters listed for RM297m

GUCCI’S former London headquarters is being offered for sale for £55 million (RM297 million) after being transformed into the most expensive house currently on the market in the capital’s Mayfair district.

The house, also available to lease for £40,000 a week, includes eight bedrooms, a garden terrace, a swimming pool, conservatory and sun room.

Demand for London’s best homes has been picking up sharply since the pandemic for both sales and rentals, with a weaker pound increasingly attracting overseas buyers. Earlier this month, Bloomberg News revealed that one of Switzerland’s richest men, Ernesto Bertarelli, bought a home in London’s Belgravia neighborhood for £92 million.

The former Gucci property is the size of about 19 average UK homes and is listed for historical preservation. Designed in neo-classical style by architect Robert Taylor, it was constructed in the 1700s and was once the London home of Lord Brougham, who entertained Queen Victoria and the 1st Duke of Wellington at the property in his role as Lord Chancellor.

Beauchamp Estates, a high-end real estate adviser, has been appointed to broker a sale of the Grafton Street property or find a well-heeled tenant. Ownership of the property is held through an offshore trust, according to the Land Registry.

Less than a mile away from the “Gucci mansion,” the developer of 1 Grosvenor Square pre-sold £439 million worth of homes at the project in the 12 months through March, according to the annual report for Macrotech Developers Ltd. A further sign of the resurgence in London’s luxury property market. –BLOOMBERG