The London office of Hines, the international real estate firm has acquired 1-11 Hay Hill in London from The Carlyle Skelton Development Group, a commercial property investment and development company. The seven-story, 4,180 m² building is located on the corner of Grafton Street and Hay Hill, in the heart of London's exclusive Mayfair district, and it is in close proximity to restaurants, hotels, retail outlets and city parks.
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1-11 Hay Hill in London
The property was purchased by Hines European Value Added Fund (HEVAF). This represents the seventh acquisition by HEVAF, and the second in London after the acquisition of Gartmore House, a five-story office building situated directly above London's Fenchurch Street mainline rail station, which was acquired late last year.
Hines has hired architects Hamilton Associates to renovate this 1899 structure into a first-class office building while retaining and restoring its original façade. Renovation plans include moving the main entrance on Hay Hill Street to the other side of the building on Grafton Street and rebranding the project as No. 1 Grafton Street. A planning application has been submitted to Westminster City Council for 4,333 m² of office, retail and residential space. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in January 2008 with a completion date slated for late 2010. The building is currently partially occupied for the short term by a combination of office and retail tenants.
Hines UK Development Director Andrew Reynolds said, "This represents a rare opportunity to create a prime West End office development providing outstanding accommodation, and we look forward to fulfilling the demand for high-end office space in the Mayfair market."
"We are very pleased to further diversify our investments, following our acquisition of Gartmore House in London last year. We believe this acquisition secures our commitment to acquire high potential investments in a strongly competitive London marketplace," said Bahram Motamedian, fund manager for HEVAF.
Source: Hines
